MANILA —  Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go demanded justice for the horrible death of  OFW Jeanelyn Villavende in the hands of her Kuwaiti employers.

“We are talking about a life for  a life here. We need justice for Jeanelyn. We cannot return his life but justice should be given,” Go said at the public hearing on the case conducted by the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development along with the Committee on Foreign Relations.

The autopsy report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) showed that Villavende was physically and sexually abused for weeks before she was killed.

Go called on the relevant government agencies to give the case due attention.

“I am reminding the OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration), DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration), NBI, DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment), and all, focus on this case,” he said.

He also asked for updates on the implementation of the existing 2018 agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said that he is going to Kuwait on February 2 and 3 to meet with Kuwaiti authorities.

“I’m bringing with me ’yung Technical Working Group natin (Philippines) so that they will talk with the Technical Working Group of Kuwaiti, and hopefully they will agree to the harmonized Standard Employment Contract.”

 Bello explained that the contract contains provisions that President Rodrigo Duterte wants to be included, such as allowing household service workers to keep their passport and cellphone, specifying their working hours and sleeping hours, giving them one day off a week with pay, and not transferring them to another employer without their written consent and the written approval of the Philippine labor attaché. (STACY ANG/IAMIGO/CPH)