The ACTS-OFW Coalition of Organizations on Tuesday lambasted  the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for their “rushed lifting” of the ban against the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers to Kuwait. 

“Blood will be on the hands of all POEA governing board members who recklessly voted in favor of removing the deployment ban,” said ACTS-OFW chairperson Aniceto Bertiz III, in a statement. 

“They will all be responsible in the event that another Filipino domestic helper gets killed or maimed in Kuwait,” said Bertiz, also a former member of Congress.

“We strongly suspect that the hurried lifting of the ban was due to the high-powered lobbying by Philippine-based recruitment agencies supplying Filipino domestic helpers to Kuwait,” Bertiz said.

“These recruiters get paid handsomely by Kuwaiti employers every time a Filipino domestic helper gets deployed. They don’t care about the worker’s welfare and protection after she gets assigned to a Kuwaiti household,” Bertiz said. 

Bertiz   made the statement as he urged  the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to verify reports that yet another Filipino domestic helper in Kuwait, this time from President Rodrigo’s hometown, is dead. 

ACTS-OFW withheld the name of the deceased pending notification of relatives.   The group only said  that she was 45 years old and a native of Davao City.  

The POEA declared on February 14 the resumption of the processing and deployment of all categories of household service workers to Kuwait a month after it imposed a ban following the killing of Filipino domestic helper Jeanelyn Villavende. 

The  National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) indicated that Villavende was physically and sexually abused, as seen in the agency’s autopsy report.

In 2018, the Philippines and Kuwait had a diplomatic row over the killing of Filipino domestic helper Joana Demafelis and the emirate’s kid-glove treatment of physically abusive employers.

Last year, another Filipino domestic helper in Kuwait, Constancia Dayag, was also killed by her employer. Like Villavende, Dayag was also physically and sexually abused.

The Philippine government has lifted the total deployment ban imposed on Kuwait, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has said.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board, in a resolution approved Thursday, said the deployment ban was initially partially lifted following the approval  by the Kuwaiti and Philippine governments of a harmonized employment contract for Filipino domestic workers or household service workers during the PH-Kuwait Joint Committee Meeting last February 2 or 3. /Stacy Ang