The Philippine Government asked Kuwait on Thursday for clarification on the expulsion of its ambassador, expressing “annoyance” and “displeasure” with the Kuwaiti move.
While Harry Roque, official spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, expressed the hope that this development “will not lead to further deterioration in the bilateral relations between the two countries,” the Philippine foreign ministry said on Thursday it has sent an official letter to the embassy of Kuwait, expressing its surprise and displeasure over the expulsion of its ambassador.
“The department [foreign ministry] served a diplomatic note to the Embassy of Kuwait conveying its strong surprise and great displeasure over the declaration of Ambassador Renato Pedro Villa as persona non grata,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Philippine foreign minister demanded in the diplomatic note, the Kuwaiti government to explain “the continued detention of four Filipinos hired by the Philippine embassy and the issuance of arrest warrants against three diplomatic personnel.”
Manila said its embassy had hired three of the detained Filipino nationals for rescue operations that have angered Kuwait and have been seen as a “violation to Kuwait’s sovereignty and laws.”
The Philippine ambassador to Kuwait, Renato Pedro Villa, admitted during a press statement the presence of a Filipino team that has been conducting “rescue” operations of Filipino maids in Kuwait for more than a month.
However, Philippine officials confirmed that their Foreign Ministry was sending reinforcements to its embassy in Kuwait, consisting of seven teams to rescue domestic workers in Kuwait.
The Kuwaiti authorities detained three drivers, who drove the embassy cars in the so-called rescue operations. Kuwait regarded such behavior by the embassy as a violation to its sovereignty.
Tensions rose earlier this year following the murder of maid Joanna Demafelis, prompting Duterte to ban Filipina workers from deploying to Kuwait for work. A Lebanese man and his Syrian wife were found guilty in the murder.
A widely circulated video on social media, published by the Philippine Foreign Ministry last week, showed a woman fleeing a house before taking a car waiting for her. Another clip showed someone running from a place that looked like a construction site before jumping into a black car.
The Kuwaiti government asked the Philippine ambassador on Wednesday to leave the country within a week and summoned its ambassador from Manila for consultations.
The Philippine foreign minister issued an official apology to Kuwait for the harm caused by the revealing of an emergency team that belongs to the embassy, which was smuggling Filipino workers from the homes of their Kuwaiti employers on suspicion of violating their rights.
