The Senate will open on Wednesday, Feb. 21, its inquiry into the deaths of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including that of Joanna Demafelis, a domestic worker found dead in a freezer in Kuwait. Binay pointed out that roughly 250,000 Filipinos are working in Kuwait, 75 percent of which are household service workers. Over 400 OFWs have so far been brought back home from the Gulf country as part of the government’s mass repatriation program. “The countless deaths and unceasing maltreatment of OFWs calls upon the Philippine government to further efforts to protect the rights and welfare of OFWs. It is also the duty of the Senate, by law, to protect [their] rights and privileges,” Binay said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer February 17, 2018 09:33 UTC