By Roy Mabasa Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday said the lifting of the deployment ban in Kuwait is contingent on the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) anchored on good relationship and protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in that Gulf state. (Jun Ryan Arañas/Manila Bulletin file photo) “The President said that for as long as the 100 percent of Filipinos are not protected, for as long as there’s no agreement and implementing mechanism that would protect all Filipinos, he will not lift the ban and sign the agreement,” Cayetano told reporters in Cebu City where he is attending the Labor Day celebration together with President Duterte and the rest of the cabinet members. While the draft agreement is about 60-70 percent complete, Cayetano said it will be of no use if there are still issues that need to be addressed by the Kuwaiti government. “So the lifting of the ban will be contingent on the signing of the agreement, which is contingent the good relationship and the assurance that they (OFWs) will be protected,” he said. He said that among the issues that needs to be addressed prior to the signing of an agreement are the 800 (OFWs) currently in the shelter; the 120 others who are yet to be rescued; the diplomats who cannot leave Kuwait as of now due to the pending arrest warrants issued by Kuwaiti authorities; and cases that have been pending and are not yet moving forward. “We have asked our Kuwaiti counterparts to look that. What are you going to do with that agreement if it will not be followed,” he said. The DFA chief admitted, however, that about 96 percent of Filipinos in Kuwait are actually working under good conditions since “Kuwaitis look at them like family members.” “Whether or not there’s a ban, whether or not there is rocky diplomatic relationship, the 96 percent are not in trouble (hindi po napapahamak yung 96 percent),’” the foreign secretary pointed out. He added that their focus is on the three or four percent whose cases are ranging from issues about the food they’re being made to eat, overworked, or worse, cases of those who are almost beaten to death. Duterte earlier imposed the ban on the deployment of fresh workers to Kuwait following the case of domestic worker Joanna Demefelis whose body was found in a freezer. Before lifting the ban, the President has set preconditions for better treatment of Filipinos by their employers. The Philippine government indicated in the draft memorandum that passports of OFWs must not be confiscated by their employers, be guaranteed adequate sleep, be allowed to cook their own food and a day off to allow them to go to church or attend to their personal needs.