PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's order to prohibit Filipinos from seeking jobs in Kuwait will remain in effect despite the arrest of the two primary suspects in the brutal death of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Joanna Daniela Demafelis in the Arab nation, Malacañang said Monday, February 26.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said that while the Philippine government appreciates the arrest of Demafelis' killers, the President's previous directive to impose a total deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait will not be lifted.
"Well, we certainly appreciate the arrest of two of Joanna's employers. However, in addition to the arrest, we would like to see them prosecuted and punished for the murder of Joanna (Demafelis)," Roque told Palace reporters.
"As of now, the deployment ban stays because the latest statement on this made by the President was when he visited the wake of Joanna, and he said that not only must they be apprehended, they must be punished," he added.
Duterte earlier instructed the Labor department to stop the deployment of Filipinos who want to work in Kuwait, following the death of Demafelis, whose body was found stored in a freezer inside an abandoned flat in the Arab country's Al Shaab district.
The principal suspects in her murder -- Lebanese national Nader Essam Assaf and his wife, Syrian national Mona Hassoun -- were separately arrested last week.
Demafelis, recruited locally by Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Global E-HUman Resources Inc., flew to Kuwait in 2014 but went missing in November 2016. Her body was recovered on February 9, bearing torture wounds, including broken ribs and broken hipbone.
Roque said Duterte has already ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to find Demafelis' recruiters.
"He (Duterte) wanted the NBI to question the recruiters actually. Because under our scheme, the local recruiters are actually ultimately liable for what happens to the Filipino deployed by the agencies for overseas. So that’s what the President wants to find out," he said.
"Of course the fact that the NBI will summon will entail the person coming into the premises of the NBI. But I was very careful with the language, I just use the term summon. But if they will not appear, then they will of course -- they could be taken into custody for investigation. But let’s see if they will voluntarily appear," he added. (SunStar Philippines)