3 Filipino diplomats held in Kuwait back in Manila
The three Filipino diplomats, who were charged with kidnapping by Kuwaiti authorities due to the covert rescue operations of abused Filipino workers in the Gulf state, arrived in Manila on Friday afternoon.
Special Envoy to Kuwait Secretary Abdullah Mama-O and Charge d'Affaires Noordin Pendosina Lomondot accompanied the three officials upon their arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at around 3:30 pm on board Kuwait Airways flight KU 417.
Mama-o refused to divulge the names of the three Filipino diplomats when interviewed by the media.
Department of Foreign Affairs security personnel implemented tight security inside the NAIA terminal and barred members of the media to enter the dignitaries lounge upon the arrival of the three officials.
Mama-o, meanwhile, confirmed that the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Kuwait will resume after the lifting of the ban upon the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.
It would be recalled that former Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Pedro Villa was declared person non grata by the Kuwaiti government, following the rescue of abused Filipino domestic workers.
Kuwaiti authorities issued arrest warrants against the three unnamed diplomats after the video of rescue operations, which was uploaded on Facebook, went viral.
President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait following the discovery of the remains of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait earlier this year. DMS
