Senators Raffy Tulfo and Joel Villanueva yesterday lambasted a representative of the recruitment agency of slain overseas Filipino worker Jullibee Ranara in Kuwait.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Migrant Workers attended by officials of the Department of Migrant Workers, Catalist International Manpower Services Company lawyer David Castillon said they checked on Ranara’s condition regularly following her deployment.
An argument ensued after Castillion said that Ranara had told them she was doing fine in her employer’s house.
“There were no traces that she was being hurt or that she was in a hostile environment,” he said in Filipino.
An irked Tulfo said: “Even before the victim becomes a victim, the predator must have shown signs. In that case, the victim should have contacted you already that (she) has been physically or verbally hurt. The OFW should have communicated that to you or it should be the other way around. You should have asked the victim.”
Castillon said his agency’s official report stated that Ranara and the suspect had an intimate relationship.
“There was really a relationship and that’s why it was reported to the Kuwait Embassy. That’s the initial report that we gave to the DMW — that they had a relationship. This was investigated and it was even in Ranara’s cell phone,” Castillion said.
Not convinced
Tulfo was not convinced though.
“What proof do you have to say that they had a relationship? It’s not a good thing that you are speaking against her and she can’t defend herself. She’s dead,” he said.
He went on to ask what action the agency took upon receiving the report.
“Why didn’t you do anything when you knew it is prohibited for an OFW to engage in a relationship with an employer? You should have done something,” Tulfo said, in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Now she’s dead. You can make up all these stories against her,” he added.
Meanwhile, Villanueva recounted that Ranara had reported that the 17-year-old son of her employer was threatening her with an ice pick
“Where were you then?” Villanueva asked Castillon, who responded that Ranara had narrated the incident only to her family and not the agency.
Villanueva said the agency’s monitoring was ineffective.
“You were not monitoring. That’s why your monitoring was ineffective. Am I right or am I right? I’m asking you. (Do) you think your monitoring system works? You’re saying that you checked every day, that you monitored? A day before she died, this was the situation,” he said in Filipino.
License suspended
Meanwhile, DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said the license of Catalist with the DMW’s counterpart in Kuwait has been suspended.
Tulfo requested the DMW for a total revocation of the company’s license.
“Make sure they will not be given a license forever,” he said.
Olalia said the DMW has hired welfare desk officers to continuously monitor the engagements and deployment conditions of Filipino workers abroad.
Tulfo lamented that OFWs cannot feel the presence of these desk officers as many of them still experience maltreatment and abuse.
“It’s wrong if they don’t act on it,” Olalia said of the desk officers, noting that the DMW immediately imposes sanctions on those officers who don’t comply with the monitoring orders.
He added that documentary suspensions had been imposed on private recruitment agencies that did not follow DMW rules and policies.
Following the tragic death of Ranara, Tulfo said the Kuwaiti government should give an assurance that no OFW will be maltreated and abused in their country.
“So maybe we can go back to the ambassador of Kuwait to issue an apology to the OFWs, not only to their relatives,” he said, noting that it would have a huge impact on the morale of the Filipinos working abroad.
Tulfo insisted that the government engage in new bilateral talks with the Kuwaiti government and take a firm stand against the abuse and maltreatment of OFWs in their country.
“The call for help has never been stronger. The call for justice has never been louder,” Tulfo said, adding that the Philippines must give “clear and unequivocal” terms to Kuwait.
“If there are violators to such agreements, we have to prioritize the welfare of our OFWs and act in the soonest possible time, make these violators accountable and liable without concessions, and pursuant to our laws and international conventions,” he said.