Let Embassy Hold Passports: Duterte - ’Filipinos must have access to cellphones’

Upon arrival in the Philippines she was driven straight to a hospital where she died two weeks later. “We want to know what happened to my sister in Kuwait, and we are seeking [the] government’s help,” said Lloren’s brother, Greg Perez, a jeepney driver who works in Cebu.

Monina Gulmatico, Migrante head in Negros Occidental, said the group would raise the case of Lloren at the Senate hearing on Wednesday. Perez said his sister complained that the wife of her employer maltreated her and would sometimes lock her up and make her sleep in the comfort room. Lloren’s remains were taken home to Murcia last Friday. She was buried at the public cemetery there on Monday.

Migrante dared President Duterte to investigate erring officials who failed to look into the plight of Filipino migrant workers. “We call on the Duterte administration to publicize the bilateral agreement it intends to sign with Kuwait with regard to the protection of Filipino workers and ensure that the voices of (migrants) will be heard and their demands be included,” it said. Meanwhile, the Senate Committee on Labor headed by Senator Joel Villanueva, Feb 21, investigated the alleged abuses committed against Filipino OFWs in Kuwait that have resulted in injuries and deaths.

The committee was expected to tackle five resolutions seeking an inquiry on the increasing incidence of abuse on overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait filed by Senators Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquaio, Nancy Binay, Sherwin Gatchalian, Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo ‘Sonny’ Angara, and Villanueva himself. The investigation stemmed from an order by President Rodrigo Duterte to ban the deployment of OFWs in the Gulf State after the death of Joanna Demafelis. Gatchalian wants to determine the economic effects of the Philippine government’s deployment ban to Kuwait, including the economic impact on the repatriated OFWs and their families and those whose placement has been deferred.

Poe hopes that Congress will formulate “effective measures and policies” to efficiently assist and protect OFWs and their families before, during and after deployment.