22nd February, 2018
President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Thursday attended the wake of a Filipino domestic helper whose death prompted him to declare a ban on citizens working in Kuwait.
Duterte mourned with the family of Joanna Demafelis, 29, and informed them of steps his administration was taking to find justice for her death and to protect other Filipino workers in Kuwait.
Demafelis’ body was found stuffed in a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait earlier in the month.
An autopsy revealed she was beaten up and suffered broken ribs, internal bleeding and contusions.
“It was the fate of Demafelis that led to the ban on the deployment of Filipino overseas workers to Kuwait,” Presidential spokesman, Harry Roque said, ahead of the visit to the town of Sara in Iloilo province.
“The president says that he gives primary consideration to the welfare and safety of our overseas Filipino workers, rather than the economic gains,” he added.
Roque said the government was hopeful that Kuwait agrees to a bilateral agreement being negotiated by labour official that aims to protect the rights of migrant workers in the Gulf state.
There are an estimated 250,000 Filipinos working and living in Kuwait.
In ordering the ban, Duterte noted that 103 Filipinos died in Kuwait in 2017, up from 82 the previous year.
Officials said since the total labour deployment ban on Kuwait was formalised on Feb. 12, 1,700 Filipino workers have returned to Manila, and thousands more were expected to be repatriated.