Include OFW demands in MOU with Kuwait, PHL government urged

As Philippine and Kuwaiti labor officials met in Manila on Thursday to tackle ways to protect Filipino workers in Kuwait, a pro-OFW group held a rally to urge the government to include the demands of OFWs in the discussion.

A report by GMA News' JP Soriano on Balitanghali said Migrante is urging the Philippine government to include the OFWs' demands in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) it is hammering out with Kuwait regarding OFW protection.

Migrante Chairperson Armand Hernando said everything in the proposed MOU currently under deliberation is already in Kuwait's labor laws.

These include the right of an OFW to hold on to their passport, to use their phone any time, and the prohibition on the sale of Filipino workers to other employers.

Instead of duplicating Kuwait's labor laws, Migrante suggested that the government de-privatize the overseas worker program and convert it into a government-to-government overseas deployment scheme.

Household service workers, the most vulnerable group of overseas workers, should also be categorized as skilled workers, the group said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Tuesday that the government is gunning for a "model document" in its talks with the eight-person Kuwaiti delegation to "ensure the safety and well-being of our household service workers in Kuwait."

He said the Philippines seeks more "practical measures" for the safety of OFWs before the ban on the deployment of first-time Filipino workers to Kuwait is lifted. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News