Manila calls for justice after body of Filipina worker murdered in Kuwait returns home

The family of Joanna Demafelis openly wept as the white casket was unloaded at an airport cargo terminal in the central city of Iloilo.

"Justice for Joanna D. Demafelis," was emblazoned on banners and on T-shirts worn by the crowd which included a congressman and local officials expressing their anger over the death of the Filipina whose body was found in a freezer in Kuwait earlier this month.

A distraught Eva Demafelis could only say "I am sad," when asked by reporters about the death of her daughter.

"She does not deserve the manner in which she died. She was beaten up," said an aunt, Rosela Demafelis Taunan, referring to local news reports about the 29-year-old maid's death.

"She decided to go abroad because she wanted to help her parents repair the house that was damaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)," in 2013, the aunt recalled.

The slain maid also wanted to finance the college education of her youngest sister, Joyce, the aunt said. 

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte angrily lashed out at Kuwait over reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation and installed a ban on its nationals working in Kuwait.

Kuwait's foreign minister on Tuesday condemned what he called an "escalation" by Manila after the Philippines expanded its ban.

"This escalation will not serve the relationship between Kuwait and the Philippines," Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah told reporters in Kuwait City.

"We condemn the statements of the Philippine president, especially since we are in contact with the Philippines at the highest level to fully explain the state of the Filipino workforce in Kuwait," he said.