MANILA, Philippines — The deployment ban to Kuwait stays until a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the minimum terms and conditions of employment of Philippine nationals in Kuwait is reached or signed, Malacañang announced Monday.
“As you know [Labor] Secretary [Silverstre] Bello and other cabinet members will be leaving for Kuwait on the 7th, which means that the process of diplomatic negotiations and conversations continues as we speak,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.
As to whether the ban was permanent, Roque said that “it stays right now because the precondition set by the President is really the signing of that MOA.”
Secretary Roque also gave assurance that mechanisms are in place to protect Filipino workers who have chosen to remain in Kuwait.
He said Philippines’ diplomatic ties with Kuwait remains with the presence of a diplomatic mission headed by a chargé d’affaires.
“We still have a mission there to protect our nationals and Kuwait also is duty-bound to protect aliens under the standards dictated by international law, under terms and conditions which are not inferior to the way they treat their own nationals,” he said.
The Palace official added that the Philippines is trying to normalize ties with Kuwait saying, “He (The President) is not picking a fight with Kuwait. The President was very somber, he was very calm; he says that if Kuwait does not want our workers, then he would ask them to come home.
But he has expressed profound gratitude for the fact that Kuwait has employed many of our nationals. So the whole tenor was non-confrontational.”-PNA
