MP claims labor row 'cover' for money laundering

DAVAO CITY: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (right) meets Kuwaiti Ambassador to the Philippines Musaed Al- Thwaikh on Monday at the presidential guest house. — AFP

MANILA: The Philippines' top diplomat apologized yesterday after videos emerged of embassy staff helping Filipinos flee from allegedly abusive employers in Kuwait. Kuwait had branded the rescues a violation of its sovereignty, adding fuel to a simmering diplomatic row between the two nations sparked by the murder of a Philippine maid. The first of two clips, which spread on social media after being released by the Philippine foreign ministry last week, shows a woman running from a home and jumping into a waiting vehicle. Another depicts a person sprinting from what looks like a construction site and then speeding off in a black sport utility vehicle.

"I apologize to my counterpart and we apologize to the Kuwaiti government, the Kuwaiti people and the leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine embassy in Kuwait," Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters in Manila. Three Filipinos who drove vans for the embassy in the operations were believed to be held by Kuwaiti authorities. Cayetano added a formal apology letter was being sent to Kuwait, a day after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met with the Kuwaiti ambassador Saleh Ahmad Al-Thwaikh over the issue.

Kuwait was furious after the videos emerged, saying the rescues were a violation of its sovereignty and "can harm relations between the two countries". Cayetano said the Philippine embassy staff were responding to complaints of abuse from some of the 260,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait. "This was all done in the spirit of emergency action to protect Filipinos," he said, stating that the embassy staff believed they were dealing with "life-or-death" situations. "We respect Kuwaiti sovereignty and laws, but the welfare of Filipino workers is also very important," Cayetano said, adding Kuwait had accepted the Philippines' explanation.

Some 10 million Filipinos work abroad and the money they remit back is a lifeline of the Philippine economy. This controversy follows the ban Duterte imposed in February on Filipino workers moving to Kuwait, after the discovery of the corpse of Filipina maid Joanna Demafelis in a freezer. Duterte alleged that employers routinely rape their Filipina workers, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps. The two countries have since been trying to work out an agreement to protect the rights of Filipino workers in Kuwait, particularly the 170,000 who work as maids.

Cayetano said embassy workers had been carrying out "rescues" of abused Filipinos, adding that this was mostly done in cooperation with Kuwaiti police but in some cases staff acted alone due to urgency. Cayetano said the two countries still hoped to complete the labor agreement by May. Duterte previously said he will visit Kuwait to witness the signing of the accord.

In Saturday's operation, the workers were taken to shelters ran by the embassy and would soon be repatriated, diplomats in Manila said. "The workers voluntarily went with embassy staff who waited outside the homes of the domestic helpers' employers," said a diplomat. The employers did not hand over their passports. Some workers were persuaded to leave their employers, he said. The operation was captured on video and posted on social media. "It was not a clandestine operation," said Elmer Cato, assistant secretary for public diplomacy.

There are 600 Filipino workers in embassy-run halfway houses in Kuwait, Cayetano said, with about 120 more who have sought rescue from employers due to abuse and tough working conditions. Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque said part of an agreement with Kuwait was to seek assurance it would to bring those who abused Filipino workers to justice. "The secretary conveyed our request for Kuwait's kind understanding of the sworn duty of the government to protect Filipino nationals anywhere in the world," Roque said in a statement.

Ambassador to remain

Meanwhile, the Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa will stay on despite calls for him to be expelled and declared persona non grata over allegedly inflammatory statements he made to the media and the "rescue" videos. At a press conference yesterday, Villa echoed Cayetano's apology to Kuwait for undermining the state's sovereignty.

"This afternoon Alan Cayetano, secretary of foreign affairs, issued an apology for the actions that were undertaken by the embassy of the Philippines in the past weeks to assist Filipino nationals in grave distress here in Kuwait, but which the government of Kuwait unfortunately found unacceptable," he said.

He appealed for understanding by the Kuwaiti government and people of the sworn duty of the Philippines government under the leadership of Duterte to respond to calls for assistance from Filipinos in distress abroad. "I welcome the outcome of the meeting this morning between Secretary Cayetano and the Kuwaiti ambassador in Manila, where they agreed on measures that could be taken to avoid future misunderstandings, such as to strengthen the Kuwaiti government's 24/7 hotline to immediately respond to urgent requests for assistance by Filipino nationals in coordination with the Philippine Embassy," Villa said.

The two countries also agreed to jointly establish additional shelters if needed for distressed Filipino workers, he added. Furthermore, the two countries will jointly formulate a mechanism to ensure better and efficient coordination between the Philippine Embassy and Kuwaiti authorities in responding to any emergency case involving Filipino nationals, and also ensure immediate action by Kuwaiti authorities on pending requests for assistance from distressed Filipino workers and to facilitate the repatriation of more than 800 Filipinos currently staying in shelters of the Philippines Embassy.

Villa said the two countries agreed to ensure proper and humane treatment of Filipinos who may be taken into custody after the April 22 amnesty deadline expired and to repatriate them immediately with the assistance of the Philippines Embassy. "On behalf of my government, I would like to express deep appreciation of the embassy of the Philippines to the hospitality extended by the government of Kuwait to the more than 250,000 Filipinos who have made Kuwait their second home and for granting the amnesty that allowed us to repatriate more than 5,000 of our people," he concluded.

On Monday, Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah had said reducing number of Filipino diplomats in Kuwait was "possible" following "violations and statements" by officials in the Philippines. However, Jarallah had ruled out relations between the two countries would be severed. "The standoff with the Philippines is contrived and the officials in Manila are the ones who started this current standoff," Jarallah told the final session of the Arab Media Forum. "There are a large number of Filipinos who have been living in peace for years in this country, so it is quite strange this issue escalated so quickly," he added.

MP unimpressed

However, opposition lawmaker Mubarak Al-Hajraf was not happy over the turn of events yesterday, and charged that the diplomatic row between Kuwait and the Philippines over workers is a cover for illegal issues like money laundering, commissions and commercial deals between officials in both countries. He urged Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah to investigate "suspicious" moves by the Philippines against Kuwait under the cover of labor problems. He claimed that the domestic labor dispute "is a cover for other issues being exchanged in media circles like money laundering, commissions and commercial deals between officials in Kuwait, specifically the foreign ministry and certain sides in the Philippines".

"What is happening is a pressure card under the cover of domestic helpers," Hajraf charged. He said that the foreign ministry must do its job to safeguard the integrity and image of Kuwait and should perform its diplomatic role in the best way, adding that the measures which the ministry claimed it had taken were insufficient, unclear and did not rise to the occasion. Hajraf urged the minister to carry out his political duties by first revealing the truth about the allegations of money laundering and other illegal activities and secondly make an appropriate response to the measures being taken by the Philippines against Kuwait.