Bello to go to Kuwait to discuss standard employment contracts

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III is set to go to Kuwait on February 2 and 3 to discuss the standard employment contract for Filipinos working there amid a total deployment ban placed on the Middle Eastern country following the death of Jeanalyn Villavende who was allegedly killed by her employers.

During the hearing of the Senate Labor Committee Tuesday, Bello said he had a series of meetings with Kuwait's Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh to expedite the resolution of the case and for it to be given priority by their government.

“I made it a condition for the lifting of the deployment ban, first, is justice to Jeanelyn and, second, that they would finally agree to a standard employment contract which contains the provisions the President (Rodrigo Duterte) wants to include,” he said.

Bello added that he was invited to go to Kuwait to meet with his counterpart.

“The result of the meeting with the Ambassador was an invitation for me to proceed to Kuwait and meet my counterpart, the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and possibly the Prime Minister,” he explained.

While Bello declined to meet the Prime Minister, pointing out that he was not a high-level official for such a meeting, he would meet the ministers, together with a technical working group, including Philippine Overseas Employment Administration administrator Bernard Olalia and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac.

“So I agreed to the invitation provided that I can bring my technical working group, to be headed by one undersecretary and two of my very competent administrators, Olalia and Cacdac, so that we can finally come up with standard employment contract,” he said.

“‘Yun ang pag-uusapan sa February 2 and 3,” he added.

Among the provisions Duterte wanted to be included in the harmonized standard employment contract were specific working and sleeping hours and one day off with pay, Bello said.

He added the standard contract should also state that the passports and cellphones of Filipino workers should remain with them and not be confiscated by their employers.

He further said that Filipino workers should not be transferred to another employer without their written consent and the written approval of the Philippine Labor Attache.

Bello expressed confidence the standard contract would be signed before the President’s plan to go to Kuwait in March. — DVM, GMA News