PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, February 19, floated the possibility of expanding to other countries the ban on deployment of additional Filipino workers to Kuwait.
Duterte said he could no longer stand the persistent reports of abuses against overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
He said he was willing to bear the brunt of possible repercussions from the ban.
"The (deployment) ban will continue and it will extend to other countries. It will be difficult for them," the President said during the 20th founding anniversary celebration of the Chinese Filipino Business Club Inc. held at Manila Hotel Monday.
"I will not allow (abuses against OFWs). I don't have any plans to send you (to other countries) just to let you be treated cruelly. That's not my style," he added.
He, however, failed to mention which countries might be included in the deployment ban.
Speaking to Palace reporters on Tuesday, February 20, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte was referring to nations, where Filipino migrant workers experience inhumane treatment.
"He was referring to countries that would treat Filipinos without due regard to their humanity. But there is no specific country in mind yet," Roque said.
Duterte was prompted to order the total ban on the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait after the gruesome death of Filipino worker Joanna Daniela Demafelis, whose body was found inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait.
Demafelis' remains were repatriated to the Philippines over the weekend as an international manhunt against her employers, a Lebanese national and his Syrian wife, was launched. (SunStar Philippines)