MANILA - The Philippines partially lifted its deployment ban to Kuwait following the two nations' agreement of a template contract for Filipino workers, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said Thursday.

Household service workers are still covered by the ban while new and returning skilled Filipino workers are now allowed to fly to the Gulf state, Bello said.

"Finally the proposed harmonized contact of employment was agreed upon by the Kuwait government. This is a measure that would provide effective and sufficient protection to our overseas workers," he told reporters.

The Philippines imposed a total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait following the killing of household worker Jeanelyn Villavende, who was found to have been sexually abused and tortured by her employer.

• Total ban: PH stops sending Filipino workers to Kuwait in wake of Pinay's slay

Villavende's employers have been detained, while the agency who sent her to Kuwait has been suspended, Bello said.

The country last imposed a total deployment ban to the Gulf state in 2018 after Filipina migrant worker Joanna Demafelis was slain and discovered inside a freezer at an abandoned apartment there. Her employer was found guilty for her slay.