Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo (center) (Rep. Salo's office)

Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo has slammed the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) prolonged deployment ban of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the oil-rich nation of Kuwait. 

This, as the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs warned that OFWs "are not irreplaceable" within the global workforce. He called for the lifting of the ban, which was imposed in February last year. 

“The prolonged ban, lasting for one year and one month now, has caused severe impact on Filipino migrant workers who are left without a source of income and puts our 45-year formal diplomatic relations with Kuwait in jeopardy,” Salo said in a privilege speech during plenary session Monday, March 11. 

In his speech, the Kabayan solon wondered out loud over the necessity of prolonging the ban, and asked for clarity on the DMW's strategy moving forward. 

He said that Ddspite President Marcos' announcement in October 2023 regarding the imminent lifting of the ban, concrete progress from the DMW remains elusive. 

“What message does the DMW wish to bring to the Kuwati Government? What message do they wish to convey to our fellow Filipinos – to the 272,000 Filipinos in Kuwait wanting to go home and still continue their employment, and to the countless others who wish to try their luck in Kuwait,“ Salo said. 

Salo also described as misguided the perception that Filipinos are indispensable in the global workforce, as he acknowledged the competence and readiness of workers from countries aside from the Philippines.

“The bitter truth is a lot of other nationalities are equally competent, prepared and willing to grab the opportunities available to Filipinos. Certainly, much as we would want to believe, we are not irreplaceable,” he said. 

The Philippines imposed the ban in February 2023 following the case of domestic helper Jullebee Ranara, whose burnt body was found in a desert in Kuwait the previous month. She was also pregnant.

The DMW has justified the ban as a protective measure aimed at safeguarding newly hired household workers from potential abuse and maltreatment by Kuwaiti employers. 

“The tragic death of an OFW at the hands of her employer’s son is condemnable, and rightly so, the whole nation was outraged. But the quest for justice for her (Ranara) death, which we already secured in nine months, should not imperil our diplomatic relations and the welfare of 272,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, and should not deny countless of our kababayans the employment opportunities awaiting for them in Kuwait,” Salo said. 

He urged a reevaluation of the country’s strategy and sought opportunities for dialogue with Kuwaiti officiala, as well as to adopt more proactive measures to protect Filipino migrant workers. 

The ongoing deployment ban is the third one that the Philippine government has imposed on Kuwait in a span of five years.