Despite the arrest of the murder suspects on the death of OFW Joanna Demafelis, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stands by his bold decision to keep the total deployment ban on Kuwait in effect.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, the President wants the suspects of the murder of the Filipina OFW in Kuwait (Demafelis) “punished.”
Deployment Ban Stays Even After Arrest of Murder Suspects of Filipina OFW in Kuwait
The murder suspects to Demafelis’ death have already been identified as Lebanese Nader Essam Assaf and his Syrian wife, Mona ; both have already been detained by authorities in Lebanon during the weekend when President Duterte attended the wake of Joanna in her hometown in Sara, Iloilo.
Last Feb. 26, President Duterte had instructed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to probe for the local recruiter of Demafelis.
With the issuance of Department Order (DO) 102 last Feb 26, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II sanctioned the NBI to probe at the angle which local recruitment agencies may have played in the turnout of this series of events.
To this, Roque explained that the President would naturally want to look at the involvement of recruiters on the issue because based on how things are done in the Philippines, the recruiters are to be held liable for whatever happens to Filipino workers deployed by their agencies abroad.
The late Demafelis had been recruited for work by Our Lady of Mount Carmel Global E-Human Resources Inc., which had been shut down two years ago.
The summon to be made by the NBI will demand an appearance from the involved party. However, in the case of a no-show, authorities have the legal right to take the person/s of interest into custody for investigation, reminded Roque.
The death of Joanna Demafelis is one of the reported accounts of abuse of domestic helpers in Kuwait which ultimately prompted President Duterte to sanction a total deployment ban on the Gulf State.
Here is a short video clip on the news update: Duterte’s Kuwait deployment ban stays despite arrest of suspects in OFW’s murder