According to a Department of Labor investigation, a Filipina domestic service worker in Kuwait was found hanging in her room with her wrist slit.
Gladys Olarte Fong was identified as the worker in a March 17 report by Labor Attache to the Middle East Nasser Mustafa. Fahad Naji Ibrahim Alholi, a Kuwaiti citizen, was her employer.
Filipina Domestic Worker Found Dead in Kuwait – DoLE
According to the Manila Times, the incident had already been brought to the attention of various government agencies and officials, including Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, Labor Undersecretary Claro A. Arellano, and International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB) Director Alice Visperas.
After receiving a distress call from his employer, a Kuwaiti police officer transported Fong to a hospital. When she arrived at the facility, however, she was declared dead.
“Per report, she was found dead in her room hanging with a cut on her wrist,” Mustafa’s letter read.
Fong was employed by a local company called TMJ International Manpower on April 19, 2019, according to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency records.
Her remains were subsequently brought to a morgue for an autopsy to determine the cause of her death. According to Mustafa, the results of the forensic inquiry will identify the exact reason for her death, which has not yet been determined as of this writing.
Due to the deaths of two Filipino domestic employees, Jenelyn Villavende in 2020 and Joanna Demafelis in 2018, the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait had been halted for several months.
After the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding, the restriction was lifted. It also gave Filipino laborers in Kuwait more protection.
Meanwhile, OFW advocate Emmauel Geslani reported that a household worker in Kuwait was rescued after her employer refused to give her a day off, confiscated her cellphone, and verbally and physically abused her.
Argote’s employer was informed by the OWWA office in Kuwait that their employees may take a day off and create a bank account for their wages.
The employer’s wife failed to heed the OWWA order and continued to verbally and physically abuse Argote. Argote chose to quit her employment and seek refuge with OWWA because she was afraid for her life.
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