President Rodrigo Duterte has said the deployment ban of overseas Filipino workers to Kuwait would not be lifted if the conditions he has set in the draft labor agreement would not be approved.

In a speech in Pasay City Wednesday night, Duterte reiterated the conditions that Kuwait should comply with.

"I said if these won't be approved under you, Silvestre Bello (III), Labor Secretary, sorry. No lifting of the ban," he said.

The Department of Labor and Employment has been negotiating with Kuwait on a labor deal that aims to protect overseas Filipino workers, particularly household helpers, in the Gulf state.

Duterte said the employer should not confiscate passports of OFWs.

He said the Filipino helpers' sleep, which is seven hours, should also be guaranteed; that they be allowed to have a day off so they could practice their religion; and they be allowed to cook their own food, among others.

Duterte has ordered the deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait in February after the murder of a Filipina domestic helper whose remains were found inside a freezer after she was reported missing for about one year.

Hundreds of Filipinos from Kuwait have also availed of the government's repatriation program. Celerina Monte/DMS