Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque flew to Kuwait to seek "normalization of ties" with the Middle Eastern country, Malacañang said on Wednesday evening, May 9.

Malacañang said Roque left for Kuwait on Tuesday evening, May 8, "upon the directive" of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Roque and Bello met with Kuwaiti officials, as they were accompanied by former labor secretary Marianito Roque, labor attaché Rustico dela Fuente, and deputy chief of mission to Kuwait Mohd Noordin Lomondot.

The Philippine contingent met with officials from Kuwait's interior ministry. Both parties "look forward to the normalization of ties."

Malacañang said a memorandum of agreement is expected to be signed after their meeting.

On top of this, Kuwait "agreed to create a special unit within the police that the Philippine embassy can liaison with regarding complaints of Filipino workers."

This special unit will be available for 24 hours, with a special 24-hour number "that Filipino workers can call for assistance."

150 undocumented OFWs flying home

Malacañang said the meeting of Filipino and Kuwaiti officials "likewise saw the release of 4 drivers," in reference to the drivers arrested by Kuwait after helping the Philippine embassy in rescuing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there.

The meeting "guaranteed that all remaining undocumented Filipinos…except those with pending cases, will be allowed to go home."

Malacañang said at least 150 of these undocumented Filipinos "will be joining the Philippine officials in returning to the Philippines."

The meeting comes after Kuwait expelled Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa due to the allegedly illegal rescues of OFWs in Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government had also protested a video of these OFW rescues, which came from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs itself.

This crisis brought relations between the Philippines and Kuwait to their lowest point in years, with the welfare of 262,000 OFWs at stake.

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