Filipino diplomats in Kuwait face kidnapping charges for allegedly carrying out illegal rescue operations of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) – the Philippines government termed ‘distressed’, according to rappler.com.
Kuwait had earlier issued arrest warrants against 3 Filipino diplomats while 4 embassy ‘hires’ were arrested by the Kuwait police and remain in detention.
Cayetano said the diplomats were accused of taking OFWs from their homes in the course of rescue operations. He clarified, however, the Philippine embassy generally doesn’t respond to distressed OFWs unless it coordinates with the Kuwaiti government.
He pointed out 38 rescue operations, 35 were coordinated with the Kuwaiti government, and 3 were done by the embassy alone.
Referring to the 3 uncoordinated rescue operations, Cayetano said, “We did it ourselves, which is acceptable, and it is a duty under international law, but it caused commotion among them.” “That’s why I said I apologized if our actions seem to violate your sovereignty. But let me assure you, it’s in the spirit of protecting our nationals,” he said.
Asked why the diplomats have warrants of arrest against them when they have diplomatic immunity, Cayetano said, “That’s what we’re sorting out.”
In the meantime, en.brinkwire said, labor protesters demanded pay hikes and an end to illegal labor practices, while President Duterte declared a ban on Filipino workers going to Kuwait as diplomatic ties continue to worsen.
Thousands of Filipino protesters marched together on May 1 in the global commemoration of Labor Day and called on President Rodrigo Duterte to deliver on his promise to end labor “contractualization,” the widespread practice of short-term employment. They also called for an increase in minimum wage per day.
Contractualization, also known as “endo” in the Philippines, is the practice of hiring temporary workers — for a maximum period of five months — to avoid paying for long-term employee benefits such as healthcare and pensions following which President Duterte has signed an executive order ending “illegal contract and sub-contract hiring.”
On the lifting of the ban, Cayetano said, “Only when Filipinos receive full protection in Kuwait will the ban on their deployment to the Gulf state will be lifted,” according to cnnphilippine. com “The direction of the President is that when our countrymen received 100 percent protection, then and only then will we have a lifting of the ban,” he said.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between both governments was one way to achieve this objective, Cayetano added. Presidential spokesman, Harry Roque expressed hope that the latest problem between the two countries could eventually be resolved “soon or later,” according to news.mb.com. “I don’t think I’m in a position to actually state what the root cause of the problem in Kuwait was. What I’m saying is, you know, like any relationship, there are kinks in our relationship with other countries. This is one of those kinks,” he said during a Palace press briefing. Roque, who earlier revealed the planned visit of a government delegation to Kuwait next week, said they were hoping the mission would push through.
He said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III mentioned that it would be an “assessment mission” to reach out to the Kuwaiti side and explore how to move forward with the ties. “It would to further our communications with the Kuwaiti authorities. It would be to see how to move forward with our bilateral ties. It would be to see what would be the future of the MoA (memorandum of agreement) if any,” he said. “So, it’s really exploratory. We want to feel the water, so to speak,” he added.
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