January 22, 2025
MANILA – Sen. Raffy Tulfo expressed his readiness to approach President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to reiterate his appeal for a total deployment ban on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Kuwait after a series of deaths and rights abuses.
Tulfo aired his stance at a Senate panel on migrant workers’ hearing on Tuesday.
During the public inquiry, the senator pressed Migrant Workers chief Hans Cacdac to disclose whether or not the Philippine government is deploying OFWs to Kuwait.
READ: DMW to charge Kuwaiti over OFW’s Jan. 2 death
According to Cacdac, the deployment is ongoing, but only for Filipinos who have had previous experience in working as an OFW in Kuwait.
This, however, did not sit well with Tulfo, who maintained that the problem does not lie in Filipinos but in Kuwaiti employers.
“Niloloko natin ang ating mga sarili. Are we making ourselves stupid? Are we a nation of stupid people sending our workers to the lions there in Kuwait? Sabi ko nga po kanina hindi kailangan ng experience yung pagiging katulong [o] kasambahay. Sanay po tayong mga Pilipino. Lahat ng Pilipino magaling mag ayos ng bahay at maglinis. Ang problema ay doon sa employer,” said Tulfo.
(We are fooling ourselves. Are we making ourselves stupid? Are we a nation of stupid people sending our workers to the lions there in Kuwait? I said earlier that being a housemaid [or] a maid does not require experience. We Filipinos are used to it. All Filipinos are good at organizing and cleaning the house. The problem lies with the employer.)
“Palagi na lang, kapag merong problema ang tinitingnan natin ay yung side natin. No, we’re not the problem. The problem is Kuwait. The problem is the government of Kuwait not doing enough,” he added.
(When there is a problem we always look at our side. No, we’re not the problem. The problem is Kuwait. The problem is the government of Kuwait is not doing enough.)
Later in the hearing, he proceeded to demand that DMW implement a total employment ban on OFWs to Kuwait.
READ: Foul play eyed in OFW’s death in Kuwait
“This is what I want you to do—even if I have to talk to the president about this, and I will—ibalik natin siguro yung ban. Wala na munang new deployment—stop. Yung mga nandoon ngayon [at] may kontrata, kung gusto nila mag renew ng kontrata, okay yun. Kaya lang wala munang bago. Kung ano yung natitira doon, yun na yun tapos renew nang renew ng contract sila [edi] okay,” he said.
(This is what I want you to do—even if I have to talk to the president about this, and I will—let’s probably bring back the ban. There will be no new deployments—stop. Those who are there now [and] have contracts, if they want to renew their contracts, that’s okay. That’s why there’s nothing new. What’s left there, that’s it, then they renew their contracts [and] they renew them, that’s okay.)
Apart from this, the senator reiterated his previous appeal to conduct neuroscreening on Kuwaiti employers to ensure the safety of OFWs.
“Hindi ko naman sinasabi na [ang mga nasa] Kuwait ay siraulo—I’m not saying that. In fact, maraming mga workers tayo doon na happy sila sa kanilang mga employers sa Kuwait. The majority of the Kuwaitis are good people, but there are a number of them who are… ayoko nang mag salita,” he said.
(I’m not saying that [those in] Kuwait are crazy—I’m not saying that. In fact, there are many workers there who are happy with their employers in Kuwait. The majority of the Kuwaitis are good people, but there are a number of them who are… I don’t want to talk anymore.)
Tackled during the hearing were the woes of several OFWs who have had a hard time enduring their work abroad, including the fate of Jenny Alvarado, who allegedly died due to coal smoke inhalation.
At the hearing, Jenny’s daughters—Nathania and Angel—insinuated that there was foul play on the death of their mother.
“Sabi nila suffocation lang but ang dami pong pasa ng mother ko. Pati rin po ang tuhod niya ganon din po, sobrang daming pasa at pinabaliktad ko po yung [katawan] ng mama ko at nakita ko po na may pasa siya sa bandang puwitan. At saka para po siyang pinaddle,” Angel recalled.
(They said it was just suffocation but my mother had a lot of bruises. Her knees were the same, there were so many bruises and I turned my mother over and I saw that she had bruises on her buttocks. And then it was like she was paddled.)
Earlier, the DMW said it is already looking at the possibility that foul play could have led to the death of Jenny amid conflicting accounts surrounding her passing.