Vice President Leni Robredo reacted to the demise of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) based in Kuwait.
In her radio program, Robredo said that the government should not allow the case of OFW Jeanlelyn Villavende to happen again next time.
“Dapat siguruhin na hindi na siya mangyayari sa susunod,” she said in her radio program “Biserbisyong Leni”.
Villavende’s demise was being blamed to her Kuwaiti employer and the Philippine Government vowed to hire the best lawyers in Kuwait to give justice to the OFW.
Robredo said that the government should review the memorandum of agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait which signed after the case of Joanna Demafelis, the OFW who found lifeless inside her employer’s freezer.
“Nagkaroon na rin ng ganito, na-suspend siya 2018, Kailangan talagang pag-aralan ito dahil kahit na na-suspend siya, nagkaroon ng memorandum of agreement, nangyari na naman,” she said.
As a response to what happened to Villavende, the government banned the deployment of OFWs in Kuwait for the second time.
“This should serve as a clear message to Kuwaiti authorities. The partial ban may ripen into total deployment ban if justice for Jeanelyn Villavende is not met,” Bello warned Kuwait.
The ban exempted skilled workers and Filipinos who are already working in Kuwait.
There are about 262,000 Filipinos living in Kuwait.
The Philippine government is also planning to make a template contract for its workers in Kuwait.
It would protect the Filipino workers from their employers who are going to attempt to confiscate their passports and mobile phones.
The template contract also included the transferring of the workplace without the labor attache’s consent.