When news about the brutal death of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jullebee Ranara broke out on Sunday, Jan. 22, some lawmakers and individuals immediately called for a deployment ban to Kuwait in an apparent expression of anger over what she suffered at the hands of the 17-year old son of her employer.
The same call would usually be the statement every time an OFW would suffer maltreatment and other forms of abuse from the hands of an employer. But is it really a logical response?
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) under Secretary Susan Ople does not think so.
Ople said that while she understands the high emotion running over the burning and what she describes as a murder in the case of Ranara, there are some factors that must be considered.
"There are things that should be deeply thought of. It cannot be a product of emotions and political acoustics because workers are involved," Ople told reporters in a press briefing.
"That's why we in the department are very careful, and I know that we are being criticized for that but we will be careful precisely because the lives of our workers are at stake," she emphasized.
Amid the call for deployment ban to Kuwait, the DMW said there are hundreds of thousands of OFWs in the Middle east country that will be surely affected.
Based on the latest data, there are around 268,000 OFWs in Kuwait, around 195,000 of them are working as household service workers.
And there are hundreds of thousands more families in the Philippines that are dependent on the remittances that these OFWs provide back home.
Ople said that it would have been different if the government of Kuwait ignored the incident but in the case of Ranara, she revealed that the Kuwait government sent a letter to her family expressing condolences and assurance that justice will prevail.
The burned body of the 35-year old Ranara was discovered in the Kuwait desert. The 17-year old son of her employer is now under the custody of the Kuwait police and the DMW said both the Kuwaiti police and prosecutors are now working and closely coordinating with the Philippine government for updates on the legal offensive aspect.
Conditions on deployment ban
In the same press briefing, Ople laid down three grounds for the Philippine government to declare a deployment ban on any country.
First, she said there must be a consensus between the DMW and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) because that is what is in the law when it comes to foreign and labor policy of the Philippine government.
"A consensus between the DFA and the DMW is important because it is in our law—foreign policy and labor policy should not be at odds with each other," said Ople.
"We also adhere to the one country team approach wherein in foreign post, it’s the ambassador that is calling the shots. So it is a no-no that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing especially when It involves other countries, so a consensus between two departments for me is critically important," she added.
Second, Ople said national interest must also be given importance, meaning, the welfare of the majority of the OFWs should prevail.
She explained that should a deployment ban, for instance, be declared to Kuwait, it is the 268,000 OFWs there who will eventually suffer.
Citing experiences in the past, the employers would usually prevent their Filipino household workers from going home beyond the contract, knowing that it would be difficult for them to get replacements.
Filipino household workers are praised for their work ethics, the reason why they are in demand especially in the Middle East.
"We only have one moral compass--what is in the national interest. Will a deployment ban lead to more advantages to our workers who are already there and those who are here but would like to work there? What are the clear advantages," said Ople.
Third, Ople said that should the host country where an incident of abuse on an OFW is not willing to sit down and discuss the issue, then a deployment ban is considered since it is already considered a red flag on the aspect of the general welfare of the OFWs.
It is not the case, according to Ople, with regard to the Kuwait government.
While there are over 200 active OFW welfare cases in Kuwait, all of them are being addressed in coordination and cooperation with the Kuwait government based on the bilateral agreements in the past relating to labor, according to Ople.
Ople, however, revealed that the DMW has no threshold so far on the number of cases of OFW abuses that would warrant a declaration of deployment ban.
Preventive measures
This week, a fact-finding team will be sent to Kuwait to conduct a review and investigation on the welfare cases, as well as the response protocol of the Philippine government through its offices there.
"We in the department must go by an evidenced-based approach to labor reform policies. Given also the increase in deployment and welfare numbers in Kuwait last year, it is imperative that we look at the root causes behind these numbers," Ople said.
She added that the independent team will make an assessment on the overall performance and structure of the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) or what was known as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait.
"With more than a hundred thousand kasambahays in Kuwait, the DMW must increase the monitoring and response mechanisms of our MWO," Ople said.
Among the parameters Ople said the fact-finding team will review include a comparative study on the number of welfare cases of distressed OFWs over a period of five years, what triggered the rise in these cases, the response time of both Philippine and Kuwaiti authorities and recruitment agencies in addressing calls for assistance, and how engaged were foreign recruitment agencies (FRAs) in monitoring their workers and screening their employers.
The result of the mission and the recommendations will be submitted to Ople for action.
Ople said the results of the findings and the recommendations will serve as the basis for improvement of protocols relating to the welfare of OFWs.
Another measure, according to Ople, is the publication of countries that also hire household service workers (HSWs). Included in the publication is the status of the OFW welfare condition in the countries hiring HSWs.
"I see the need to publish the list of countries that will accept Filipino domestic workers with safeguard mechanisms that are in place in those countries and even the number of welfare cases that we have been experiencing in those countries," said Ople.
"The reason why such a list needs to be put up together is for the guidance of our workers and the guidance of the families of these workers," she added.