Contrary to a post shared on TikTok and Facebook (FB), there is no deployment ban to Kuwait following the murder of 35-year-old overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jullebee Ranara.
“The [Department of Foreign Affairs] (DFA) and the [Department of Migrant Workers] (DMW) share the same opinion that for now, there is no deployment ban because both [the Philippines and Kuwait] are willing to sit down and talk,” Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said in Filipino during a Jan. 30 DZMM Teleradyo interview.
Ople reiterated on two other occasions that there is no need to implement a deployment ban because the Kuwaiti government is acting on the case, and that she would prefer social dialogue to address labor migration concerns.
An FB netizen and four other TikTok accounts posted the misleading video on Jan. 26, two days after senators suggested a deployment halt pending a review of policies to further protect workers. The five videos got a total of 957,917 interactions.
“#ito na Deployment ban na | #mga pilipino bawal ng pumasok sa kuwait (This is it, there’s now a deployment ban | Filipinos not allowed to enter Kuwait anymore),” the clip’s in-video text read.
Contrary to the teaser, the four-minute clip taken from a Jan. 25 SMNI Malaysia news video, focused on a mere suggestion by former anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy to ban deployment of OFWs to Kuwait.
Several netizens supported the call for a deployment ban, while others wished it was true. A few others asked if the video’s claim was fake news.
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(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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