PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has named Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Concerns Abdullah Mamao as special envoy to Kuwait in a bid to restore the falling diplomatic ties with the Gulf state following reports of Filipino workers being abused by their employers there, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said Tuesday.
“He [Mamao] will be appointed special envoy to Kuwait and he was tasked to return to Kuwait immediately to make sure that all Filipinos who should be sent back home can return home,” the Palace official said.
Mamao will fly to Kuwait to assist Filipino workers who wish to be repatriated to the Philippines.
Roque said Mamao’s appointment came after his successful efforts to ease a diplomatic row with Kuwait over operations launched by the Philippine embassy staff to rescue distressed Filipino workers there.
He said Mamao’s task was to deal with the country’s “unsettled business” in Kuwait, including negotiating for the welfare of three Filipino diplomats wanted by authorities as well as four drivers detained over the rescue mission.
“We want to see our three diplomats home. We want the four drivers completely cleared because they are residents of Kuwait. There’s about 800 runaways that we want to bring home,” Roque said.
“So the mandate of Secretary Mamao is to bring everyone home and to possibly normalize ties with Kuwait, sign the MOA [memorandum of agreement] if possible,” he said.
He added Mamao will also see through the pending memorandum of understanding between Philippines and Kuwait on the protection of Filipino workers, in hopes of normalizing ties.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Roque, and other Foreign Affairs officials were scheduled to fly to Kuwait on May 7 to sign the labor deal between the two countries, but the trip was canceled after the latest diplomatic row.
Roque said Mamao will talk with the Kuwaiti government about the deal ahead of Bello.
Kuwait is a top destination for Filipino workers, with some 260,000 Filipinos working there as of 2018.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, meanwhile, said those responsible for uploading videos of the rescue operations would be held accountable once the agency manages to repatriate the remaining Filipinos in Kuwait.
Although Cayetano defended the uploading of the videos by saying this was done with good intentions, he acknowledged there was a need to “repair and review” the DFA protocol on using social media.
“As I said, they will be held accountable, and we’re looking at what and why it happened,” Cayetano said,
“As I said, good intentions may have bad results, that’s why we’re not excusing them,” he added.
Tension between the Philippines and Kuwait increased further after DFA acting-spokesman Elmer Cato uploaded a rescue video where diplomats who were part of the Rapid Response Team, were seen helping Filipinos to flee from their allegedly abusive employers in Kuwait.
The videos that angered the Kuwait government showed a woman running from a home and jumping into a waiting vehicle while another depicted a person sprinting from what looks like a construction site and then speeding off in a black sport utility vehicle.
Kuwait had branded the rescues a violation of its sovereignty, adding fuel to a simmering diplomatic row between the two nations sparked by the murder of a Filipino maid.