#ANCRecap: Sen. Risa Hontiveros reacts to Pres. Duterte's call to Kuwaiti OFWs to return home. pic.twitter.com/18x8mRToQr

— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) April 29, 2018

MANILA - Senator Risa Hontiveros on Sunday questioned President Rodrigo Duterte's assurance to the Filipino workers in Kuwait that there are enough jobs waiting for them in the Philippines.

Duterte earlier appealed to the Filipinos working in Kuwait to come home amid rising tensions between the two countries over a controversial rescue operation of distressed OFWs in the Gulf state.

"I now appeal to your sense of patriotism. Come home. Tutal marami nang trabaho sa Pilipinas," the President said. (There are many jobs available in the Philippines.)

"Are we even talking about the same Philippines? This is not at all a solution that would come from a King Solomon," Hontiveros said in an interview with ANC, urging Duterte to reconsider his position and consult with concerned sectors and groups about the matter.

The senator said Duterte has not even signed an executive order that will not only end the practice of "endo" or end of contract, but also protect the workers' security of tenure.

She said Duterte should rethink his labor export policy and also implement a labor and employment policy in the country that would assure that Filipinos would no longer need to seek jobs abroad.

"Ang mas sustainable na option is to come up with a labor and employment policy that would generate decent jobs in sufficient numbers para 'yung pagtrabaho dito sa ating bansa ay isang optimal na alternatibo para sa ating manggagawa," she said.

Kuwait recently expelled Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa after a video showing the rescue of Filipino workers from their employers' homes surfaced online. This happened while the two countries were discussing an agreement on the protection of the OFWs in the Gulf state.

President Duterte said he was surprised with the move, and later called on the OFW's to return home. He also said that the ban on the deployment of Filipino migrant workers to Kuwait will "stay permanently."