MANILA – The employers of slain Filipina domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende has been charged with murder in Kuwait, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III confirmed in a Senate hearing on late Tuesday that he received information on the filing of a criminal case against the Kuwaiti couple earlier this week.
“I was informed that the employers have been formally charged with murder… ‘Yung detention nila ‘yung para sa mga high criminals ‘yung tawag e,” Bello said at the Senate committee on labor’s hearing on the government’s migration policies.
Villavende’s family in Norala town, South Cotabato has earlier rejected the P50 million worth of blood money offered by the Kuwaiti suspects to settle the case.
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration administrator Hans Cacdac, meanwhile, said that labor officials are heading to Kuwait this Friday to get updates on the case against Villavende’s employers.
Cacdac also said that the government will also bring Villavende’s father to Kuwait to witness the hearings once the trial starts, as requested by the family.
Local autopsy showed that Villavende suffered at least five months of abuse and has clear indication of sexual abuse, contrary to the initial autopsy done in Kuwait seemed “roughly done” based on the autopsy incision on Villavende’s head.
Villavende’s death has resulted in a total deployment ban of Filipino workers to Kuwait but Bello said that Filipinos could be allowed to work again in Kuwait if the Gulf state would serve justice for Villavende and finally agree to implement a standard employment contract which would ensure the welfare of Filipino domestic helpers./PN
