Marcos to slain OFW’s family: ‘Kami na ang tutupad ng pangarap ninyo’

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 30) – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to offer all possible assistance to the bereaved family of slain overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jullebee Ranara.

“Kaya naman nag-sakripisyo ang anak nila na magtrabaho sa abroad ay dahil may mga pangarap siya para sa kanyang pamilya. Kaya sinabi ko eh nawala na yung anak ninyo, kami na lang ang tutupad ng pangarap ninyo,” Marcos said, speaking at Ranara’s wake on Monday.

[Translation: Jullebee made a sacrifice by working abroad only because she had dreams for her family. Now that she is gone, we will be the ones to fulfill those dreams.]

READ: Officials visit wake of slain OFW Jullebee Ranara

Marcos said that the government had prepared scholarships for 35-year-old Ranara’s four children.

“Maliliit pa yung mga bata, yung panganay niya is 13. Para makapag-aral ng mabuti at lahat pa ng ibang benepisyo yung insurance na ibabayad ay pina-follow up na namin,” he continued.

[Translation: Her children are still young, her eldest is 13. So that they can continue studying properly, we have followed up on all the benefits and insurance they are entitled to.]

Marcos added that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) had given the bereaved family their death benefit.

“I just wanted to offer my sympathies to the family and to assure them that all the assistance that they might need for the family and for whatever else, ang pangako ko sa kanila [this is what I promised them],” he said.

Review of labor agreement

Marcos said the Philippines would schedule meetings with Kuwait to discuss the bilateral labor agreement.

“We have to see if there are any weaknesses in the agreement that allowed this to happen and to make sure that those weaknesses are remedied so that the agreement is stronger and will be more supportive of our workers," the president said.

After Ranara’s killing, the Department of Migrant Workers said it would review the 2018 agreement.

READ: DMW eyes revising labor agreement with Kuwait following death of OFW

The labor agreement was inked in 2018, expired in May 2022, and automatically renewed, DMW Undersecretary Hans Cacdac said last Jan. 28. It was signed to protect the rights of OFWs by allowing them to keep their passports and mobile devices, which Kuwaiti employers would apparently confiscate from OFWs.

The agreement was signed in 2018 following the Philippines’ imposition of an OFW deployment ban on Kuwait after a domestic worker was killed and stuffed into a freezer inside an abandoned apartment in Kuwait. This was lifted shortly after.

Another ban was imposed in 2020 after two OFWs died at the hands of their employers in 2019. This ban was lifted just one month later in Feb. 2020.

READ: DMW vows justice for slain OFW in Kuwait

“We hope this will never happen again to any one of our countrymen,” Marcos said.

Ranara’s burnt body was found in the desert of Kuwait last Saturday, Jan. 21. The main suspect in her killing was the “cruel” 17-year-old son of her employer.

Her remains were repatriated to the Philippines on Friday, Jan. 27. The National Bureau of Investigation conducted an autopsy a day later.