Cayetano to meet Kuwaiti counterpart before MOU signing
Published May 10, 2018 02:59 pm
By Roy Mabasa
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday said he is set to meet first with his counterparts in Kuwait before they can proceed to the possible signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would provide more protection to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there.
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano (AP Photo/Aaron Favila / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Just before the dinner tonight, we will have a bilateral meeting with the (Kuwait) foreign minister, my counterpart. Afterwards, if everything’s okay, then we will push through with the signing of the MOU,” Cayetano told journalists during a whirlwind visit to Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday night, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced that the MOU signing may take place on Friday, May 11. If signed, Bello said the initial outcome of the agreement could pave the way for the partial lifting of the deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait.
The foreign affairs chief expressed satisfaction with the outcome of Bello’s visit to Kuwait following the activation of a special unit of Kuwaiti police that the Philippine Embassy can call to look after complaints of possible abuse against Filipino workers.
Likewise, the Kuwaiti government is setting up a 24-hour hotline where distressed OFWs can call on emergency instances.
Cayetano pointed out that these mechanisms that are being put in place would prevent further misunderstanding in the future that once a quick response is needed, “they will not say that we’re taking the law into our own hands.”
“On the other hand, OFWs will always feel that they can call someone at the Embassy and act right away,” Cayetano said.
Also on Wednesday, the Kuwaiti government has agreed to release the four Filipino drivers who were arrested after they were implicated in the controversial rescue of distressed OFWs in the Gulf state.
The Kuwaiti government’s announcement came following a meeting with Philippine officials led by Bello, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, former Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, Labor Attaché Rustico de la Fuente, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait Mohd Noordin Lomondot.
The Philippine delegation met with top officials of Kuwait’s Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Apart from the release of the four arrested Filipinos, Roque said the Kuwaiti government also guaranteed that all remaining undocumented Filipinos, except those with pending cases, will be allowed to go home. There are at least 600 undocumented Filipinos who are currently staying at the shelters.
Roque said about 150 of these undocumented Filipinos will join them on their return flight to Manila.
Negotiations on the signing of an MOU actually started following the death of several Filipinos in the oil-rich state, including Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer.
A diplomatic spat aggravated the situation when videos of the rescue of Filipinos from their Kuwaiti employers circulated in both the mainstream media and the social media, prompting a series of angry response from the Kuwaiti government.
Video footages of the rescue were traced to DFA Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato who, in the afternoon of April 19, shared the materials with members of the media.
DFA sources said Cato was reportedly acting on the behest of his immediate superiors.
As an offshoot came the arrests of the four drivers hired by the Philippine Embassy to assist in the rescue mission and the subsequent order to expel Ambassador Renato Villa.
Villa was the first-ever Filipino career diplomat to be declared “persona non grata” by a foreign country.
The Kuwait government viewed the act as a “breach” of its sovereignty and deplored what it called as “inappropriate behavior” by the diploma
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano (AP Photo/Aaron Favila / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Just before the dinner tonight, we will have a bilateral meeting with the (Kuwait) foreign minister, my counterpart. Afterwards, if everything’s okay, then we will push through with the signing of the MOU,” Cayetano told journalists during a whirlwind visit to Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday night, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced that the MOU signing may take place on Friday, May 11. If signed, Bello said the initial outcome of the agreement could pave the way for the partial lifting of the deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait.
The foreign affairs chief expressed satisfaction with the outcome of Bello’s visit to Kuwait following the activation of a special unit of Kuwaiti police that the Philippine Embassy can call to look after complaints of possible abuse against Filipino workers.
Likewise, the Kuwaiti government is setting up a 24-hour hotline where distressed OFWs can call on emergency instances.
Cayetano pointed out that these mechanisms that are being put in place would prevent further misunderstanding in the future that once a quick response is needed, “they will not say that we’re taking the law into our own hands.”
“On the other hand, OFWs will always feel that they can call someone at the Embassy and act right away,” Cayetano said.
Also on Wednesday, the Kuwaiti government has agreed to release the four Filipino drivers who were arrested after they were implicated in the controversial rescue of distressed OFWs in the Gulf state.
The Kuwaiti government’s announcement came following a meeting with Philippine officials led by Bello, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, former Labor Secretary Marianito Roque, Labor Attaché Rustico de la Fuente, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait Mohd Noordin Lomondot.
The Philippine delegation met with top officials of Kuwait’s Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Apart from the release of the four arrested Filipinos, Roque said the Kuwaiti government also guaranteed that all remaining undocumented Filipinos, except those with pending cases, will be allowed to go home. There are at least 600 undocumented Filipinos who are currently staying at the shelters.
Roque said about 150 of these undocumented Filipinos will join them on their return flight to Manila.
Negotiations on the signing of an MOU actually started following the death of several Filipinos in the oil-rich state, including Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer.
A diplomatic spat aggravated the situation when videos of the rescue of Filipinos from their Kuwaiti employers circulated in both the mainstream media and the social media, prompting a series of angry response from the Kuwaiti government.
Video footages of the rescue were traced to DFA Assistant Secretary Elmer Cato who, in the afternoon of April 19, shared the materials with members of the media.
DFA sources said Cato was reportedly acting on the behest of his immediate superiors.
As an offshoot came the arrests of the four drivers hired by the Philippine Embassy to assist in the rescue mission and the subsequent order to expel Ambassador Renato Villa.
Villa was the first-ever Filipino career diplomat to be declared “persona non grata” by a foreign country.
The Kuwait government viewed the act as a “breach” of its sovereignty and deplored what it called as “inappropriate behavior” by the diploma