The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced today that an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) based in Kuwait was beaten up after she stabbed her employer. However, the DFA did not divulge who beat up the domestic worker.
Ulambai Singgayan, originally from Maguindanao, is currently on hospital arrest and facing felony charges due to the incident.
According to a statement released by the DFA, Singgayan attacked her employer after the latter allegedly threatened her that her visa would be revoked. The employer also allegedly told Singgayan that she would be transferred to another household where the domestic worker thought she would be killed.
Chargé d’Affaires Charleson C. Hermosura, who works at the Philippine embassy in Kuwait, said in the statement that Singgayan had bruises on her face, chest, and arms. It was also mentioned in the statement that she was suffering from internal bleeding on her abdomen.
The DFA said it was unclear if the domestic worker, who first arrived in Kuwait in February last year, was physically abused prior to the incident.
Singgayan’s case comes four months after the signing of an agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait which sought to provide better protections for Filipino domestic and skilled workers based in the Gulf State.
The two countries had a diplomatic row after the Philippines issued a total deployment ban in February when the dead body of Filipino Joanna Demafelis was found inside her employer’s freezer.
Prior to the discovery of her body, Demafelis was reported missing for more than a year.
