黑料社区

ILOILO: More than a hundred relatives and supporters of a Filipino maid whose body was found stuffed in a freezer in Kuwait brandished banners demanding justice as her coffin was returned home on Saturday.
The family of Joanna Demafelis openly wept as the white casket was unloaded at an airport cargo terminal in the central city of Iloilo.
鈥淛ustice for Joanna D. Demafelis,鈥� was emblazoned on banners and on T-shirts worn by the crowd which included a congressman and local officials expressing their anger over the death of the Filipino whose body was found in a freezer in Kuwait earlier this month.
The incident worsened a diplomatic flap between the Philippines and Kuwait with President Rodrigo Duterte alleging that Arab employers routinely rape their Filipino workers, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps.
He has also banned the deployment of new workers to Kuwait and ordered airlines to fly home any of the 252,000 Filipinos working there who wish to return.
About 10 million Filipinos work abroad and the money they remit back is a lifeline of the Philippine economy. Their treatment abroad is often a political issue at home.
Kuwait鈥檚 foreign minister previously condemned Manila鈥檚 鈥渆scalation,鈥� of the issue but Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Friday the Kuwaiti ambassador had assured him his government was 鈥渙utraged鈥� over the killing and determined to find those responsible.
A distraught Eva Demafelis could only say 鈥淚 am sad,鈥� when asked by reporters about the death of her daughter.
鈥淪he does not deserve the manner in which she died. She was beaten up,鈥� said an aunt, Rosela Demafelis Taunan, referring to local news reports about the 29-year-old maid鈥檚 death.
鈥淪he decided to go abroad because she wanted to help her parents repair the house that was damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan),鈥� in 2013, the aunt recalled.
The slain maid also wanted to finance the college education of her youngest sister, Joyce, the aunt said.
Residents lined the highway as the funeral convoy escorted by police cars and motorcycles made its way to Demafelis鈥檚 hometown, about a two hour鈥檚 drive from the city.
Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello said late Friday that 鈥渨orking groups鈥� from both countries were discussing forging a memorandum for protecting the rights of Filipinos in Kuwait, many of whom are working as maids.
Domestic workers in that country are not covered by ordinary labor legislation, and accounts of Filipinos being subjected to abuse and exploitation in the Middle East have long circulated.