DMW looking to revisit labor agreement with Kuwait

FILE: SAD HOMECOMING. The remains of slain overseas Filipino worker Jullebee Cabilis Ranara arrive from Kuwait at an international cargo center near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 in Parañaque City on Friday night (Jan. 27, 2023). Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Arnell Ignacio, Department of Foreign Affairs officials and Senator Raffy Tulfo received her remains. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – An official of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Saturday they are looking to revisit the current Bilateral Labor Agreement (BLA) with Kuwait to further protect overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) following the killing of Jullebee Ranara by her employer’s son.

“The directive of Secretary Toots (Susan) Ople (is) that it is time to revisit or review the labor agreement to further strengthen the protection of OFWs,” DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac said during the Saturday News Forum at the Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.

The BLA was signed by the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments in 2018.

Cacdac added that they would also look into recruitment standards to ensure that only agencies with good track records could employ Filipino workers.

He said the National Bureau of Investigation would conduct an autopsy on the body of the slain OFW, whose remains arrived in the country from Kuwait on Friday night.

The burned body of 35-year-old Ranara was found abandoned in the middle of a desert.

The 17-year-old suspect is under police custody.

Cacdac noted that Kuwaiti authorities are constantly coordinating with the Philippine embassy on the progress of the case.

“The case is now under a prosecutor and we are awaiting official findings,” he said.