DESPITE his recent pronouncement to pull out all Filipino workers from Kuwait amid reported abuses, President Rodrigo Duterte is likely to visit the Gulf state, Malacañang announced on Thursday, February 8.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. confirmed that the Kuwait government has invited Duterte to visit.
Roque said the invitation was extended to the President during his bilateral meeting with Kuwait Ambassador to the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Althwaik held at Malacañang Palace on Wednesday, February 7.
"If he (Duterte) made reference (to his imminent visit to Kuwait), then I can make confirmation, although I was told I should not. But there's a trip in the offing to Kuwait," Duterte's spokesman told a press conference.
"Only the President met with the (Kuwait) ambassador. No one was allowed in the room. I can only surmise that the invitation was made during the bilateral meeting," he added.
The Department of Labor and Employment earlier suspended the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Kuwait, following the deaths of seven Filipinos there.
Over 250,000 Filipinos are residing in Kuwait, with most of them working as domestic helpers.
On January 24, Duterte threatened to direct all the Filipino workers in Kuwait to return home, if human rights violations against them continue.
"One more incident about being a woman, a Filipina worker being raped there, committing suicide, I'm going to stop, I'm going to ban (Filipinos in Kuwait)," the President had said.
"I'm sorry, the Filipinos there, you can all go home. If all Filipinos are withdrawn, they will also be having a hell of a time adjusting to that. I would not allow continuous incident of things like that. They have to endure rape, they have endure starvation," he added. (VoxPop Philippines)
