Guevarra favors total deployment ban for domestic workers to Kuwait

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said he would favor a total deployment ban of domestic workers to Kuwait following the death of another Filipina worker there.

"But it's really up to the DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment)," he said in a message to reporters. "They're discussing it now."

An autopsy report by the National Bureau of Investigation shows that Jeanelyn Villavende of South Cotabato died of "multiple, severe, traumatic injuries." It also shows signs she had been sexually abused.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum, Guevarra said he expects to receive on Wednesday the laboratory results that may conclusively say if Villavende had been raped.

The Philippine government has implemented a partial deployment ban of domestic workers to Kuwait, covering only first-time household service workers.

Guevarra recalled that the administration already entered into an agreement with the Kuwaiti government after the deaths of several Filipinos in the Gulf state, including Joanna Demafelis, who was found dead in a freezer in 2018.

Inked for the protection of Filipino workers in Kuwait, the agreement was said to provide that overseas Filipino workers should have a day off and at least seven hours of sleep daily, their passports free from confiscation by their employers.

Guevarra said Manila will see how Kuwait acts on Villavende's killing. Malacañang earlier said it was a "clear disregard" of the bilateral agreement.

"If they don't comply with their undertakings or responsibilities under the government-to-government agreement, talagang in my opinion, 'di naman Kuwait lang ang pwede mo puntahan," he said at the news forum.

"Marami pa namang ibang lugar na pwede ka magtrabaho. Why go to a country where you are disrespected, where you are abused?" he said, but acknowledged that "this happens elsewhere."

Villavende's employers are currently detained. If they are charged for her death, Philippine authorities will provide evidence available locally, including the NBI's autopsy report, to their Kuwaiti counterparts, Guevarra said. —KBK, GMA News