Officials emphasize deep-rooted ties after signing labor agreement

KUWAIT: Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano and Kuwaiti Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah shake hands after signing an agreement at the foreign ministry on Friday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat

KUWAIT: Filipinos in Kuwait are elated after Kuwait and the Philippines agreed measures on Friday to regulate the employment of domestic workers from the Southeast Asian country, following a diplomatic row amid reports of abuse. Philippine Minister of Foreign Affairs Alan Cayetano and Philippine Labor and Employment Minister Silvestre Bello signed the memorandum of agreement with Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.

"This is something to be grateful for. I really believed that talking face to face is better than calling or exchanging notes from a distance. They recognized that all countries in the world have to fight for the rights of their people, the same way Kuwait fought for its sovereignty and people. Both countries have no intention of hurting relations; all's well that ends well, and we want to maintain these ties of friendship," Cayetano told reporters on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.

"We have a very good agreement - a mechanism is in place to protect 100 percent of our OFWs in Kuwait - not just the great majority of Filipinos, but all of them," he said. "I spoke to some Filipinos here in Kuwait - they are saddened that a diplomatic spat took place, but they also acknowledge there are things to be done. This small bump in our diplomatic relations with Kuwait is now repaired," Cayetano said.

"The agreement will be implemented by both sides - we'll do our part and Kuwait will do its part too. We are committed to the path forward and the plan of action. We wouldn't have signed the agreement unless we saw the future of our people working happily and safely here in Kuwait. Secretary (newly-appointed advisor Abdullah) Mama-o will be staying here for a few days and will recommend to the president to lift the ban on skilled workers, and Secretary of Labor (Bello) will recommend the lifting of the ban on domestic workers," he said.

In February, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a partial ban on workers travelling to Kuwait after a Filipina maid was murdered and her body found in a freezer. The crisis deepened after Kuwait in April expelled Manila's ambassador and recalled its own envoy for consultations over video footage of Philippine embassy staff helping workers escape employers accused of mistreatment. A day earlier, Manila had apologized for what Kuwait viewed as a "flagrant" violation of its sovereignty. Cayetano said a new ambassador to Kuwait would soon be appointed and that he would advise Duterte to "immediately" lift the ban. Cayetano also said Kuwait and the Philippines would start to discuss arrangements for Duterte to visit Kuwait.

"I think the crisis is over. We will move on with the bilateral relations and we will resume normal ties with Kuwait," said an official with Cayetano's delegation. He added that the agreement "gives a number of rights to Philippine workers". A copy of the agreement seen by Kuwait Times says that workers will be allowed to keep their passports and cellphones - often confiscated by employers. It stipulates that contract renewals should be approved by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, instead of being automatically renewed. Employers must provide domestic workers with food, housing, clothing and health insurance, according to the document. About 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, 60 percent of them as domestic helpers, according to Manila.

Cayetano said Filipino authorities will also reexamine the amount paid by employers to recruiters. "We see it is hurting the domestic helper more than doing good; so we hope we can all agree to lower the cost of recruitment," he added. Recruitment agencies in the Philippines are run by private companies and not by the Philippine government.

The signing of the agreement was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday. "First of all, we are committed to the safety and security of all expatriate workers in Kuwait, including Filipinos," Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah told a joint press conference with Cayetano. "We are keen on making sure that everyone in this nation lives with dignity and that Kuwaitis and non-Kuwaitis enjoy the protection of the laws of Kuwait and respect them. We hope that our bilateral and historical relations will strengthen further," he said.

The fact that the Filipino president dispatched his foreign affairs secretary, secretary of labor and employment and his special presidential envoy to Kuwait in one week reflected keenness on having normal ties with Kuwait. Kuwait is very eager to reciprocate and to overcome the recent events, focusing on consolidating ties with the Philippines, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said.

"The problems we had over Filipinos in Kuwait are very few; 97 to 98 percent of our people here are happy and face no problem at all. We are thankful for Kuwait for allowing our people to work here. And part of my mission is to encourage Kuwaitis to invest in the Philippines and ask Kuwait to assist us over the insurgency in Mindanao to attain real peace," Cayetano said.

Duterte's spokesperson Harry Roque, also with the delegation, said all the provisions that Duterte wished to see are present in the agreement. The Kuwait's interior ministry will set up a special unit which will coordinate 24 hours a day with the Philippine Embassy over cases of maltreated housemaids. A special hotline will also be set up in case of any emergency, accessible to the embassy and the interior ministry.

By Ben Garcia