http://www.ucanews.com/news/philippine-bishop-nixes-ban-on-migrants-to-kuwait/78248
Philippine bishop nixes ban on migrants to Kuwait Bishop Santos calls on govt to make good on promise to provide all Filipinos jobs A housemaid waits at an office for domestic workers at a commercial complex in Kuwait City on July 14. Kuwait, like many Gulf states, has often been accused of abusing its foreign workers. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP) February 1, 2017 The Philippine Labor Department should reconsider its plan to ban sending Filipino domestic helpers to Kuwait due to reports of abuses by employers, a Catholic bishop said. Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga said the government should instead make good on its promise to provide alternative or permanent jobs to all Filipinos so that they will not be forced to work abroad. "Temporarily banning works in Kuwait is not the answer, it will just create difficulties for our people," said Bishop Santos, who chairs the bishops' Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. The bishop also called on the government to make sure the needs of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are given proper attention, the CBCPNews website said. "We have to accompany and always assist our OFWs there, be always available to them and attend to their needs-legal, economic and spiritual," he added. Bishop Santos also said the church's migrants ministry is also doing its best to help the OFWs. On Jan. 25, Filipina domestic helper Jakatia Pawa was executed for the murder of her employer's daughter in 2007. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said they are exerting all efforts to save another OFW death convict Elpidio Lano who was found guilty by a Kuwaiti court of killing Filipino Nilo Macaranas in 2014.
