(Eagle News) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano apologized to the government and people of Kuwait on Tuesday, April 24, “for some actions taken by the Philippine embassy,” particularly a posted and shared video of embassy staff helping Filipinos fleeing from their allegedly abusive employers in Kuwait.
“I apologize to my counterpart and we apologize to the Kuwaiti government, the Kuwaiti people and the leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine embassy in Kuwait,” he said in a press briefing in Manila.
The Ministry of Interior of Kuwait recently summoned Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa and handed him protest notes after the said viral video came out.
Kuwait was furious after the videos emerged, saying the rescues were a violation of its sovereignty and “can harm relations between the two countries”.
The video on the rescue operations done by the embassy staff reportedly came from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and was even sent to reporters on April 19.
Kuwait had branded the rescues a violation of its sovereignty, adding fuel to a simmering diplomatic row between the two nations sparked by the murder of a Philippine maid.
The first of two clips, which spread on social media after being released by the Philippine foreign ministry last week, shows a woman running from a home and jumping into a waiting vehicle.
Another depicts a person sprinting from what looks like a construction site and then speeding off in a black sport utility vehicle.
Cayetano said that he had already explained to Kuwaiti Ambassador Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh the Philippine government’s actions on distressed Filipino workers after the embassy received various requests for help from them.
“There are certain exceptions when there is life or death threat to our nationals. When we receive a call, sasabihin papatayin na ako or in danger so action has to be swift and action has to be given right away,” Cayetano told reporters.
Three Filipinos who drove vans for the embassy in the operations were believed to be held by Kuwaiti authorities.
Cayetano said a formal apology letter was being sent to Kuwait, a day after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte met with the Kuwaiti ambassador Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh over the issue.
The Philippines’ top diplomat explained the Philippine embassy staff were responding to complaints of abuse from some of the 260,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait.
“This was all done in the spirit of emergency action to protect Filipinos,” he said, stating that the embassy staff believed they were dealing with “life-or-death” situations.
As a general rule, the Philippine Embassy coordinates with the Kuwaiti government when providing assistance or rescue to Filipinos, but Cayetano said there were exceptional cases.
“It is in this spirit that I apologized to my counterpart and we apologized to the Kuwaiti government, Kuwaiti people and the leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait,” Cayetano said.
Some 10 million Filipinos work abroad and the money they remit back is a lifeline of the Philippine economy.
This controversy follows the ban President Duterte imposed in February on Filipino workers moving to Kuwait, after the discovery of the corpse of Filipina maid Joanna Demafelis in a freezer.
Duterte alleged that Arab employers routinely rape their Filipina workers, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps.
The two countries have since been trying to work out an agreement to protect the rights of Filipino workers in Kuwait, particularly the 170,000 who work as maids.
Cayetano said embassy workers had been carrying out “rescues” of abused Filipinos, adding that this was mostly done in cooperation with Kuwaiti police but in some cases staff acted alone due to urgency.
He said the two countries still hoped to complete the labor agreement by May. Duterte previously said he will visit Kuwait to witness the signing of the accord. (with a report from AFP)