Around 100 families of overseas Filipino workers from Malolos City, Bulacan are set to receive financial aid from the local government after the ongoing conflict in the Middle East cut off remittances and stranded workers abroad.
The city has begun distributing P10,000 each to affected households, with the initial batch of 36 families already receiving assistance. Sixty-four more are expected to follow in the coming days, according to Mayor Christian Natividad.
Malolos OFWs are currently deployed across Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel — out of roughly 2,000 Malolos residents working overseas worldwide.
Beyond cash payouts, the city government is offering to shoulder airfare for workers who want to come home but are not covered under the national repatriation program.
“If the Department of Foreign Affairs has difficulty including them in the national repatriation activity list, we will provide. The City Government of Malolos is willing to cover their airfare back home,” Natividad said.
A dedicated “Special Help Desk” has been set up alongside the city’s regular OFW assistance desk to handle cases arising specifically from the Middle East conflict.
“Apart from the regular OFW help desk, we have dedicated a ‘Special Help Desk’ for our OFW compatriots who are affected by conflicts, disputes or skirmishes in the Middle East, and we have already provided assistance to an initial 36 families,” the mayor said.
Should the situation stabilize, the city has also committed to funding return travel for workers who choose to go back and complete their contracts abroad.
Natividad framed the city’s response as a matter of governance principle. “The logic of our governance is that the government will adjust to the people, and in a situation like this, we in the government will adjust to their needs as long as they need help, we will help them,” he said.
