Duterte says he threatened total deployment ban if UAE executed Jennifer Dalquez

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday revealed that he had threatened to impose a total deployment ban to the United Arab Emirates if a Filipino domestic helper who was accused of murdering her employer was executed.

“‘P— ina bitayin ninyo ‘yan, sabihin ko sa inyo, I will immediately order the suspension of the employment,” Duterte said in his remarks during the Cabinet meeting held in Malacañang.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III confirmed the President’s statement, telling everyone present that he and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac flew to Abu Dhabi to relay to UAE officials the President’s sentiments.

“I said, the President respect[s] your justice system. But the President feels that if you hang his countrymen, then he [will] just declare a total deployment ban for the entire United Arab Emirates,” Bello said.

“So after that, Mr. President, two months after, we learned na kinomute (commute) ‘yung sentence niya of death to only three years. Eh hindi pa nase-serve ‘yung three years, pinalaya na siya eh. Obviously natakot sila doon sa sabi niyo, sir.”

Jennifer Dalquez, who was saved from the death row, returned to the Philippines on November 2.

A native of General Santos City, Dalquez was arrested on December 12, 2014, days after stabbing her employer who the Filipina worker claimed was trying to rape her at knifepoint.

She was sentenced to death by the Al Ain Court of First Instance on May 20, 2015. She was given an opportunity, under Islamic law, to have the decision reversed if the victim's sons will not swear in the name of Allah that she killed their father and instead opt for the payment of blood money.

The sons reportedly failed to attend the hearings as required by the court, prompting Dalquez's lawyer to move for her acquittal.

Upon her return to the country, Dalquez said  that it was not her intention to kill her former boss.

Dalquez recalled that she has always been hopeful that she would be freed from prison and be able to return to the Philippines to be with her family.

Duterte had previously imposed a deployment ban on new hires to Kuwait following reports of abuse and maltreatment involving Filipino household service workers.

Following negotiations, both countries in May entered into an agreement on the protection and welfare of overseas Filipino workers, prompting Duterte to lift the deployment ban.

Among the key features of the agreement are the provision for food, housing, clothing, and the registration in the health insurance system for domestic workers, as well as the use of cellular phones so that OFWs could communicate with their relatives in the Philippines. — BAP, GMA News