Manama: Kuwait’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Al Jarallah regretted remarks made by the Filipino president regarding his nation' community in Kuwait.

On Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte said the Philippines had “lost four women” in Kuwait, referring to domestic helpers who reportedly had been abused and committed suicide.

Al Jarallah said the two countries have maintained distinguished ties and that his department had immediately contacted the Philippines' authorities to determine motives behind the president's statement and refute the erroneous information in it, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.

The number of the Filipinos living in Kuwait has exceeded 170,000, thus the four cases mentioned in the president statement "cannot be used as a criterion to assess the overall status of the Philippines workers in the country," Al Jarallah said. Legal action was taken in the four cases, he added.

“Kuwait has a bright reputation in the treatment of expatriate workers and has laws that preserve their rights and organise their relations with the employers," he said.

Kuwait's laws and regulations protect the expatriates from any attacks or abuse and this fact has made it among the favourite work destinations for various peoples, the official news agency said.