However, Roque admitted that he was no longer sure if he would still be part of the Philippine delegation to Kuwait. “We don’t know what exactly the date is. We don’t know. Nothing is etched in stone, we have no tickets, nothing. We are hoping (though),” he said. According to reports from Manila, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Presidential spokesman Harry Roque will be part of the delegation that will travel to Kuwait on May 7 amid the diplomatic row.

In the meantime, there have been calls for Cayetano in his home country to resign following the deterioration in diplomatic relations with Kuwait, according to gulfnews.com. The officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) accuse him of “gross incompetence and blunder that resulted in the expulsion of Ambassador Renato Villa and strained relations with Kuwait.”

The DFA officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the authenticity of the letter that was circulated to Philippine diplomatic missions abroad, according to the Philippine daily The Star. It has been reported the staff at the Philippine embassy in Kuwait were instructed to clandestinely help house workers flee the homes of their employers with the use of diplomatic vehicles.

Videos of the operation were posted online by the Philippine officials that angered the government of Kuwait and said the operations were a breach of its laws and sovereignty and a violation of diplomatic norms.

This led to the ouster of the Philippines ambassador to Kuwait after he was declared persona non grata. President Duterte recently decided to halt his tirade against Kuwait, citing talks to resolve a simmering diplomatic row. In his Labor Day address last Tuesday, he said he was pursuing a “soft landing” approach on the conflict with Kuwait, admitting there was “so much” at stake. “I’m not going to attack because we have ongoing talks,” the President said in Visayan during the Labor Day celebration in Cebu City. “I’ve decided not to add to anything because they are still there.

So it’s just soft landing for me, just soft landing. I’m not going to carelessly give remarks because so much is at stake,” he added. Filipinos working in Kuwait have expressed concern over underlying issues that may be simmering beneath the tension that now exists between the two countries.

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