(Eagle News) — The government has ordered the partial lifting of the ban on the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers to Kuwait. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Tuesday, May 15, that skilled and semi-skilled workers were now allowed to go to the Middle Eastern country. The ban on the deployment of household service workers, however, stays. The partial lifting came after Kuwait and the Philippines signed a memorandum of agreement on the protection of […]
Tag: OFW
Duterte open to lifting ban on deployment of OFWs to Kuwait
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte said he was open to lifting the ban on the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers to Kuwait. In a speech in Marawi, a transcript of which was sent to reporters on Friday, May 11, Duterte said this was if a pact ensuring the protection of Filipino workers there is signed between the two countries. He said the agreement should ensure that all OFWs would have one day-off, seven hours of sleep […]
Roque: Kuwait, PHL to sign pact on protection of OFWs in Gulf state on Friday, May 11
(Eagle News)–Kuwait and the Philippines are slated to sign a memorandum of agreement on the protection of Overseas Filipino Workers in the Gulf state on Friday, May 11. This is according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who attended the meeting between Kuwait and Philippine representatives in the Middle Eastern country, following strained relations between the two countries over the rescue of distressed Overseas Filipino Workers there that Kuwait deemed illegal. Kuwait expelled Philippine Ambassador Renato […]
Roque: Kuwaiti gov’t has agreed to release four Filipino drivers detained over controversial rescue of OFWs in Gulf state
Also agreed to sign pact to protect OFWs in Middle Eastern country, Roque says (Eagle News) — The Kuwaiti government has agreed to release four Filipino drivers who were detained for their roles in what the Gulf state deemed an illegal rescue of Overseas Filipino Workers there by Philippine embassy officials. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the announcement after a meeting between representatives from Kuwait and the Philippines on Wednesday, May 9. Apart from Roque, present in […]
Mamao named special envoy to Kuwait
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte has named a special envoy to Kuwait amid strained relations between the Philippines and the Middle Eastern country over Overseas Filipino Workers abuse. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the President appointed to the post Abdullah Mamao, his adviser on OFW concerns. Roque said Mamao is slated to fly to Kuwait and help in efforts to repatriate Filipinos who wish to come home. The appointment comes after Kuwait recalled its Manila representative […]
Palace sees no reason for Cayetano to resign
Roque says Cayetano “still enjoys trust, confidence” of President Duterte (Eagle News) — The Palace on Thursday, May 3, said there was no need for Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to resign. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Cayetano, after all, “still enjoys the trust and confidence” of President Rodrigo Duterte. He said it should be Cayetano who should address the calls for resignation. “(But) as far as the Palace is concerned, there is no […]
Kuwait wants to “remain in direct communication to resolve problem” with PHL — Kuwaiti official
A senior Kuwaiti official on Monday sought to calm a crisis with the Philippines over the treatment of domestic workers in the oil-rich Gulf state. President Rodrigo Duterte in February prohibited workers heading to Kuwait following the murder of a Filipina maid whose body was found stuffed in her employer’s freezer. The resulting row deepened last week after Kuwaiti authorities ordered Manila’s envoy to leave the country over videos of Philippine embassy staff helping workers in Kuwait flee […]
Duterte: Ban on deployment of OFWs to Kuwait stays permanently
(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, April 29, said the ban on the deployment of Overseas Filipino Workers to Kuwait would “stay permanently.” The President made the announcement upon his arrival from Singapore, where he attended the 32nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The announcement came after the President urged OFWs there to come home in a speech before the Filipino community in Singapore. “My only concern is to get them back safely, all of […]
Filipina dies after falling from employer’s flat in Saudi Arabia
(Eagle News)—-The Department of Foreign Affairs said a Filipina household service worker died after she fell from the flat of her employer in Saudi Arabia. In a statement, the DFA said based on a report from the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, the Filipina, whose name has been withheld pending notification of her next of kin, fell from the sixth-floor apartment in Madinah on Friday, April 27. She was brought to the hospital at 3:30 p.m. […]
Bello: Russia being eyed as new destination for Filipino workers
(Eagle News) — Russia is being eyed as a new destination for Overseas Filipino Workers. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III made the statement on Wednesday, April 26. “Negotiations with (the) Russian Federation are ongoing….,” he said, noting that a technical working group was already looking at Russia’s labor market policies. Members of the TWG, Bello said, will meet to hopefully come up with a pact on the deployment of OFWs in Russia, where the labor […]
“Deeply disturbing,” DFA says of Kuwait’s expulsion of PHL ambassador, recall of Middle Eastern country’s rep in Manila
(Eagle News) — “Deeply disturbing.” This was how the Department of Foreign Affairs described Kuwait’s reported move to expel Philippine ambassador Renato Villa, and the recall of the Middle Eastern country’s representative in Manila. In a statement early Thursday, the DFA said “the action taken by the Kuwaiti government,” was, after all, “inconsistent with the assurances given by Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh during his meeting with (Foreign Affairs) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano in […]
Remittance payments back to home countries, including PHL, hit record-high in 2017: World Bank
WASHINGTON, United States — Payments from immigrants back to their home countries, including the Philippines, rebounded to reach a new record in 2017 but the costs of transferring funds also increased, the World Bank said Monday. The stronger-than-expected recovery in remittances — payments that are key to supporting the economies of many poor countries — was driven by growth in Europe, Russia and the United States, the World Bank said in a report. The bank estimates that […]





