DOLE suspends deployment of OFWs to Kuwait

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (PNA PHOTO)

MANILA — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ordered the suspension of deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait following the death of seven Filipino workers in the Arab nation.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III signed on Friday Administrative Order 25-2018 which suspends the sending of Filipino workers to the said country.

With this, Bello ordered the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to stop the processing of overseas employment certificates of Kuwait-bound workers.

“The order, issued late afternoon, takes effect immediately,” the DOLE said in a statement.

The seven Pinoy workers who died in Kuwait were identified as Liezl Truz Hukdong, Vanessa Karissha L. Esguerra, Marie Fe Saliling Librada, Arlene Castillo Manzano, Devine Riche Encarnacion, Patrick Sunga, and Mira Luna Juntilla, the department said.

During the launching of the Overseas Filipino Bank on Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte said he is mulling a total deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait, particularly household workers following reports of sexual abuses.