DMW to blacklist Ranara’s employer

THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Saturday that it will file a disciplinary action complaint against the employer of murdered overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jullebee Ranara to prevent it from hiring future employees.

“The preventive suspension is that he (private employer of Jullebee Ranara) cannot hire an OFW now and ever. The preventive suspension will blacklist the agency later in a way its professing a permanent blacklisting of the employer,” DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said in a virtual press conference on Saturday.

Olalia said that Ranara's employer, who is yet to be named, failed to provide the right and sufficient aid to OFWs in Kuwait.

“This was the reason why that led to the cadaver being brought home, so Ranara's employer was charged with disciplinary action,” he said.

Secretary of Migrant Workers Susan Ople said a two-man fact-finding team will be deployed to Kuwait to monitor the welfare of the 260,000 OFWs in the country.

Ople is confident that the Kuwaiti government will bring Ranara's murderer to justice.

“The crime has been admitted, and it's a very gruesome senseless crime, and the perpetrator must be accountable for it,” she said.

Kuwait media reported that Ranara, 35, was raped, beaten, run over and burned by the 17-year-old son of her employer.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government assured that Ranara's family will be given support.

“The OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) has provided, for her children, scholarships through our ELAP (Educational Livelihood Assistance) program,” OWWA chief Arnell Ignacio told The Manila Times.

Ignacio added the processing of the deceased's insurance claim is being facilitated by the OWWA on top of the death benefits and burial assistance amounting to P220,000.

Senators Raffy Tulfo and Maria Josefa Imelda “Imee” Marcos have also given financial assistance to the Ranara family.

Ranara's remains arrived in Manila on Friday night via Emirates Airlines flight EK 334.

The body was brought to an unnamed funeral parlor in Bacoor, Cavite for autopsy, Ignacio said in a video posted by the OWWA on Saturday.