Sen. Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday filed a resolution directing the Committee on Migrant Workers to investigate the recent “unfortunate incidents” involving overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait.
Tulfo said Senate Resolution No. 1278 aims to adopt monitoring measures and craft bilateral agreements that will guarantee the security, safety, and physical and mental well-being of migrant Filipino workers following the deaths of two Filipinas and the alleged involvement of another in the death of an infant.
On December 31 last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers reported that Dafnie Nacalaban, 35, a household worker who went missing for two months, was found dead and buried in the garden of her employer in Saad Al-Abdullah, Jahra, Kuwait. Nacalaban’s death was allegedly reported by the suspect’s brother to Kuwaiti authorities last December 28.
Another Filipina worker in Kuwait identified as Jenny Alvarado died due to coal suffocation when the heating system in her workplace reportedly broke down. Her death was reported on January 2.
Alvarado’s remains were repatriated but authorities gave her family the wrong body.
Last December 26, a Filipina domestic worker was arrested in Sabah Al-Salem for allegedly causing the death of an 18-month-old child. She later admitted to the crime, saying that the infant was annoying her.
Tulfo said the details on her employment are yet to be determined and verified, and as to whether her employment conditions might have contributed to the commission of the crime.
“The foregoing incidents strongly indicate that the government’s efforts in ensuring protection, safety and constant monitoring of our OFWs, particularly those deployed in the Middle East, where incidents of physical abuse by employers are prevalent, are lacking and failing. These unfortunate events necessitates an urgent review of existing policies and agreements in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers in order to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Tulfo said in the resolution.
He said the Migrant Workers Office in Kuwait, together with concerned government agencies, are providing all necessary legal and financial assistance to the said OFWs and their respective families, including the correction of the mistake in the repatriation of Alvarado’s remains.
