Villanueva urges DOLE to prepare contingency plan for OFWs who may be affected by deployment ban to Kuwait

Senator Joel Villanueva on Saturday urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to prepare its contingency plan for the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who may be affected by the impending deployment ban to Kuwait.

President Rodrigo Duterte recently said that he may withdraw all OFWs in Kuwait if another migrant Filipina worker dies from abuse.

The President's remarks come days after the DOLE suspended the processing of overseas employment certificates of Kuwait-bound workers in light of the death of seven OFWs.

"We support the President's deployment ban to Kuwait but we believe that this move must be accompanied with review and implementation of strict regulation," said Villanueva, chairperson of the Senate committee on labor, employment, and human resources development.

Villanueva further shared that the DOLE recorded reports of 1,447 cases of maltreatment, 2,959 cases of contract violation, 227 sexual abuses and 63 cases of rape of Filipino workers for just a period of one year from 2016.

"We are calling on the government agencies concerned, especially Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, and the Department of Foreign Affairs, to double their efforts to protect the safety and welfare of our kababayans abroad and to immediately and effectively settle the cases of abuse being faced by our afflicted OFWs," Villanueva said.