DFA clarifies: No decision yet on Kuwait deployment ban

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

Tulfo said a ban must be imposed until the Philippine government manages to coordinate and sit down with Kuwaiti officials to discuss additional requirements for foreign employers before hiring Filipinos. (File Photo: Philippine Embassy in Kuwait/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) clarified on Saturday that no decision has been on the proposed deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega made the statement following reports in Kuwaiti dailies that Manila had already implemented the ban.

“We have no ban. Of course, the DFA and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) are continuously discussing the issue,” De Vega said during a news forum in Quezon City.

On the part of the DFA, De Vega said they don’t want a “temporary ping-pong solution” where a ban will be implemented only to be reinstated soon after.

“We won’t look credible. Kailangan may permanence, which means kailangan mas malakas iyong guarantees, not just the … we had the 2018 agreement pero sana pagtibayin pa with more guarantees (There needs to be a mechanism that has permanence to it, which means there have to be stronger guarantees, not just the 2018 agreement. We had it, but we hope it will be strengthened with more guarantees),” he said.

“At the very least, what will come out for sure are stricter rules on hiring of household workers, that much I can say,” he added.

Asked if the DFA supports or endorses a ban, De Vega declined to comment.

“DFA will defer to DMW. But we want any ban to be well-thought of because if we ban, it should be something that we’re sure of that we will not suddenly rescind,” he said.

“Ang gusto lang ng DFA, we’re sure, kasi we’re going to have to fix the bilateral relations kung gawin natin iyan (We have to be sure because we would to fix the bilateral relations after doing so).

And the President (Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.) just talked to the Kuwaiti emir a few years ago when he was still not yet the emir,” he added.

Senate Committee on Migrant Workers Chairperson Senator Raffy Tulfo earlier called for the deployment ban on new Filipino household service workers in Kuwait following the deaths of Filipino domestic workers, including Dafnie Nacalaban whose body was found buried in the gardener’s yard of her employer’s home in Saad Al-Abdullah, Jahra.

Nacalaban had worked in Kuwait since December 2019.

In October 2024, her second employer reported her missing.

Tulfo said a ban must be imposed until the Philippine government manages to coordinate and sit down with Kuwaiti officials to discuss additional requirements for foreign employers before hiring Filipinos.

He said these must include, among others, evaluation of mental functions through a neuro-psychiatric exam, on top of submission of police clearance and proof of financial capacity to pay workers.