Duterte aims for soft landing, keeps silent as Manila, Kuwait talk

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signs the Executive Order which prohibits illegal contractualization while delivering his speech during the 116th Labor Day Celebration at the IEC Convention Center in Cebu City on May 1, 2018. RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The President chose a much careful approach with Kuwait as he said that he would not “attack” the foreign land for as there are ongoing talks.

“’Di na lang ko makig-kuan kay naa sila ngadto eh. So soft landing ang gyud ko, soft landing lang. Dili ko makapataka og yawyaw because much is at stake (I have decided not to add to anything because they (Filipino workers) are still there. So it is just soft landing for me, just a soft landing. I am not going to carelessly give remarks because so much is at stake),” President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said in mix of English and Cebuano in his speech during the Labor Day Celebration on May 1, Tuesday.

“Dili nalang ko mu-atake kay naa tay istoryang going on (I am not going to attack because we have ongoing talks),” he further said.

Duterte said that he really want to ‘personally’ help those who want to leave and come back home, but the problem was money for their fare.

“Pero og problema lang sa pamasahe. Akong pangayuon na. Paulia nalang na. Pasaluy-a na lang na ilang mga sala ug bayran nako ang ilang mga utang (The problem is with the fare. I will find the money for you. Just let them go home. Forgive them for their faults and I myself would settle their debts),” the President vowed.

After an online video showing the recent rescue of Filipino maids by some staff of the Philippine embassy in Kuwait went viral, the Gulf State, angered by this action, took it as a violation of its sovereignty.

Duterte said that he takes full responsibility of the incident, while Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano apologized.

This diplomatic rift erupted between the two nations while both working on a deal through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to protect Filipino workers in Kuwait. The Duterte administration wanted the MOU as a form of security for it to end the deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait.

The Philippine government decided on the deployment ban after a series of killings of Filipino domestic helpers in the Gulf State.