Bello: Demafelis’ recruiters to be held liable “civilly, administratively”

Joanna Demafelis/Photo from #JusticeforJoanna youtube video/

(Eagle News)—The agency that recruited Joanna Demafelis will be held liable, the labor chief said a day after the Department of Foreign Affairs announced the arrest of her employer in Lebanon.

In an interview over dzbb on Saturday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Demafelis’ recruiters  would be held accountable “civilly or administratively.”

He said this was “unless Kuwaiti police have evidence to link them to the violent death of Joanna.”

“Hahanapin natin yun,” he said.

Asked to comment on the arrest of Nader Essam Assaf, Bello said charges should be filed against him.

Authorities are still searching for his Syrian wife, who, like Assaf, abandoned the apartment where Demafelis’ body was found early February.

The discovery prompted an angry President Rodrigo Duterte to order a ban on the deployment of OFWs to Kuwait.