Cayetano backs OFW rescue amid row with Kuwait

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
FOREIGN AFFAIRS Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Thursday stood by rescue efforts of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait for distressed Filipino workers there, amid an escalating row between the Philippines and the Persian Gulf state which recalled its Manila ambassador and expelled the Filipino ambassador there.
“We will always have to respond if a Filipino cries for help. The urgency of the matter should be taken seriously,” Mr. Cayetano said in a televised press briefing in Singapore on Thursday, April 26.
Mr. Cayetano maintained that Philippine officials “did not violate the Kuwaiti laws.”
“We did not go into houses, we did not take the law into our hands,” he said.
Mr. Cayetano explained that the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait “has received initial reports that the Kuwait Criminal Investigation Division will press charges against some Philippine officials and local hires for taking part” in the said rescue operations.
He added: “Kapag sinabing ni-rescue (When you someone was rescued), this involves verbal, physical, or sexual abuse which required immediate action. This is what we complained to the Kuwaiti authorities.”
He further explained that the additional team sent by the Philippine government to Kuwait was “to help those who are availing (themselves) of the amnesty” program in Kuwait for undocumented Filipinos. “We did not send them for any covert or secret mission,” Mr. Cayetano said.
Mr. Cayetano had met earlier this week with Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh and said he personally assured by the ambassador that his Philippine counterpart in Kuwait, Renato O. Villa, “was welcome and liked in the Gulf State.”
As for the memorandum of understanding on the protection of OFWs in Kuwait which has yet to be signed by the two states, Mr. Cayetano said: “The Philippines is still optimistic but preparing for the worst on (its) signing.”
He said recent developments, including Mr. Villa’s being declared persona non grata, are “deeply disturbing” as these are inconsistent is inconsistent with the assurances given by Ambassador Althwaikh.
Mr. Cayetano added that the ambassador committed to the following measures in behalf of Filipino nationals in Kuwait:
“To strengthen the Kuwaiti Government’s 24/7 Hotline to immediately respond, to urgent requests for assistance by Filipino nationals in coordination with the Philippine Embassy; jointly establish additional centers or shelters, if needed, for distressed Filipino workers; jointly formulate mechanisms to ensure better and efficient coordination … in responding to any emergency case involving Filipino nationals.
Other messures include: to ensure immediate action by Kuwaiti authorities on pending requests for assistance from distressed Filipino workers; facilitate repatriation of the more than 800 Filipinos currently staying in shelters of the Philippine Embassy; assure justice for pending and future cases filed by Filipinos who are victims of serious abuse and other offenses; assure proper and humane treatment of Filipinos who may be taken into custody after the April 22 amnesty deadline and to repatriate them immediately with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy; release Filipino nationals hired by the Philippine Embassy who were taken into custody in recent days for their involvement in the actions taken by the Embassy in responding to the calls for assistance by Filipino nationals in distress; and ensure that diplomatic personnel of the Department of Foreign Affairs who are still in Kuwait are allowed to return to Manila without incident at the soonest possible time.”
For his part ,Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing that Malacañang “is equally disturbed by recent developments involving the recall of our Ambassador to Kuwait, Ambassador Villa. After the meeting of the President with the Kuwaiti Ambassador, we were convinced that all kinks had been ironed out, reinforced by the apology given by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs the following day.”
Mr. Cayetano said his department has served a diplomatic note to the Embassy of Kuwait “conveying its strong surprise and great displeasure over the declaration of Ambassador Villa as persona non grata; the continued detention of four Filipinos hired by the Philippine Embassy; and the issuance of arrest warrants against three diplomatic personnel.”
“The department believes that these acts are inconsistent with the assurances and representations made by the Kuwaiti Ambassador on the various concerns that were brought to his attention by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano during their meeting in Manila on 24 April 2018,” the DFA said in its statement.