Three overseas Filipino workers detained in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly filming and uploading footage of Iranian missile strikes now have legal representation, the Department of Migrant Workers confirmed Tuesday.
DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the agency has retained a lawyer specifically for the three workers and directed that legal counsel visit them at their respective detention facilities. “I can’t give details on the legal courses of action, but rest assured, we have a lawyer assigned… and that lawyer has been tasked to see them wherever they are currently detained,” Cacdac said at a press briefing in Manila.
According to the Philippine News Agency, two of the detained workers were arrested in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai. Cacdac confirmed all three are OFWs and residents of the UAE.
Coordination with the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi is ongoing, with Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand A. Ver serving as the local point of contact for the government’s response. “We are working closely with Ambassador Ver and the Philippine Embassy in the UAE to provide legal and other forms of assistance,” Cacdac said. The DMW has also established contact with the families of the three workers in the Philippines.
Cacdac described the arrests as stemming from enforcement actions tied to UAE cybercrime and information laws, which authorities have applied more strictly in recent weeks. Filming or sharing video content connected to attacks on UAE soil is prohibited under those regulations. He used the occasion to reinforce an earlier advisory from the Philippine Embassy, urging Filipinos in the Gulf to observe host country protocols without exception. “So, please refrain or do not video nor post such images of attacks in your respective host country,” he said.
Separately, 38 Filipinos caught in the regional conflict arrived in Manila aboard Emirates Flight EK 336 following a repatriation operation coordinated by the Philippine Embassy, the Migrant Workers Office, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Association in Abu Dhabi. The group included 27 distressed OFWs, nine visiting dependents — among them elderly individuals and minors — and two stranded tourists.
Cacdac’s pledge of “full legal assistance and support” for the detained workers comes as the DMW continues to field cases connected to the heightened security environment across the Middle East.
