Displaced Filipino domestic helpers from Kuwait could consider taking on jobs that will become available once government projects are rolled out under its priority infrastructure program, dubbed as “Build, Build, Build.”
“What the President really wants is for our fellow countrymen to not go to far away countries just to work. The only way for us to attain this is for them to be given jobs here in the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesman Harry L. Roque Jr. said in news briefing on Tuesday.
“Under the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, we are hoping that we could have more jobs. Work is [available] is not only for men but also for women,” Roque added.
Around 10,000 Filipino household domestic helpers are set to be repatriated following the government’s order of a total deployment ban to Kuwait.
The BusinessMirror earlier reported that some 25,000 household service workers were also left stranded in the country because of the ban.
Sen. Cynthia A. Villar said in a radio interview that female domestic helpers may become welders in the government’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program. Villar said women could also be employed in the country’s tourism industry after getting proper training.
Roque said those who do not want to leave Kuwait, can opt to stay. “First of all, we are not forcing them [to leave Kuwait].”
He added those who opt for repatriation from Kuwait will be given financial and alternative livelihood assistance. Around 116 repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait arrived on Tuesday and were given P15,000 in cash and grocery bags.
Roque also said the government has ordered all missions to find alternative jobs for those who will leave Kuwait, noting that they are looking at countries that have already signed the International Labor Organization convention, which recognizes and protects the rights of migrant workers.
“We are looking at countries like Oman and Bahrain, where there is no complaint of abuse of our countrymen,” he said.
As for the trip of Duterte to Kuwait, Roque added it is still under study, as the government wants to find out how the Middle Eastern country would act on the cases of abused OFWs.
“Under international law, Kuwait has the obligation to provide justice for our countrymen,” he said.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza