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MANILA - Labor Secretary Silvestro Bello III on Monday said he is mulling a proposal to partially lift the deployment ban of new overseas Filipino workers to Kuwait.

This, after a Kuwaiti court on Sunday sentenced a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife to death by hanging for the murder of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Joanna Demafelis.

• Kuwait court sentences couple to death for Filipina's murder

"What we mean by partial lifting is that we will probably recommend to the President a lifting of the ban on the skilled workers," Bello told ANC.

"With respect to the household service workers (HSW), we still have to study the implication of the MOU (memorandum of understanding), with respect to their protection."

Last month, the Philippines and Kuwait concurred on a draft deal for the protection of overseas Filipino workers after initially disagreeing.

• PH, Kuwait agree on draft deal for OFW protection

Bello said he will issue the recommendation after the MOU is approved and signed by Duterte.

"If you recall, after the Demafelis incident, the President ordered a total deployment ban and he said that we will only lift the deployment ban if an MOU is signed between Philippines and Kuwait and Demafelis is given justice," he said.

"Now, apparently the Kuwaiti government gave justice to Demafelis and as soon as this MOU is signed, either by the President or the Secretary of Labor, then we will consider recommending to the President the partial lifting of the deployment ban."

The murder of 29-year-old Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer in an abandoned apartment in February, prompted Duterte to declare the ban.

Malacañang on Monday welcomed the reported handing of death sentence on the employers of Demafelis, even as it stressed that the development may have little impact on Manila’s deployment ban to the Gulf state.

• Palace welcomes death sentence vs Demafelis’ employers

There are some 2 million Filipinos working in the region, whose remittances are a lifeline to the Philippine economy, according to government data.