By A Saleh

KUWAIT: Philippines Department of Labor And Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III announced lifting the ban on sending all categories of Filipino workers to Kuwait. "Thanks to the efforts exerted by the foreign ministry, the labor ministry and the domestic helper agencies' union in Philippines, the problem was resolved," he said during a meeting with the domestic helper agencies' representatives in Manila.

Earlier, Kuwaiti Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Khaled Al-Jarallah and Philippine Presidential Advisor on Overseas Filipino Workers Abdullah Mamao discussed several key issues in a meeting in Kuwait yesterday, including bilateral ties and the ban imposed by the Philippines on sending domestic workers to Kuwait following the murder of a Filipina worker. The two sides hailed the positive outcome of the recent meetings of the Kuwait-Filipino joint committee on domestic workers held in Kuwait. Moreover, Mamao affirmed his country's intentions to lift the ban.

Kuwait's foreign ministry asserted that the meeting with the Philippine side was very positive and that a memo of understanding had been signed in this regard. "The ban is expected to be lifted soon and Minister Bello is expected to visit Kuwait after he was briefed on the transparent and legal measures taken in various cases related to Filipina workers," the ministry had explained.