More than four thousand Filipino workers in the Middle East have received government assistance since regional hostilities intensified, with repatriation efforts underway despite significant airspace restrictions limiting options for those seeking to return home.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac told a joint House committee hearing Wednesday that 4,608 overseas Filipino workers have so far benefited from support measures coordinated by the Department of Migrant Workers and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. The hearing, convened by the House Committees on Overseas Workers Affairs and Foreign Affairs, examined the impact of the US-Israel and Iran conflict on OFWs.
Cacdac noted that the assistance figure does not represent 4,608 separate individuals each receiving a single service. “Thus far, 4,600 ang natulungan natin. It could be the case na yung 4,600 na yan ay one or two or three modes of assistance ang naibigay natin. Maaring nadala natin to temporary accommodation, maaring na-repatriate natin, maaring nabigyan ng pagkain. So it need not be one form of assistance lang per person,” he said.
Aid has been extended not only inside conflict-affected zones but at transit hubs across Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and Ethiopia. The DMW is also working with the Department of Foreign Affairs to cover Filipinos in areas without Migrant Workers Offices, including those who were in the region as tourists when hostilities escalated.
Of the more than 4,600 assisted, 380 have formally requested repatriation. “We get the requests, and we’re braced to repatriate. Those who are ready at this stage would be 380,” Cacdac said. Two chartered flights have been authorized by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to facilitate returns.
Getting those workers home, however, faces practical obstacles. Cacdac pointed to widespread airspace closures across Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Israel — four of the five with no regular commercial flights currently operating. Land border crossings have become the primary alternative, with pre-positioned government teams assigned on both sides of each crossing to escort workers through.
“All the border crossings are identified per each of the five countries, and we have teams that will bring them to the border and teams that will receive them on the other side. Naka-pre-position na po yung ating teams that surround these countries,” Cacdac said.
OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio Caunan said rapid response teams were deployed to critical areas in the region as early as March 2. The agency’s hotline 1348 is being expanded to handle increased demand, and an e-report platform is processing assistance and repatriation requests. Of the PHP1.2 billion emergency repatriation fund under the General Appropriations Act, nearly 20 percent has already been drawn down as operations continue.
