Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac has pushed back against reports that the government is spending P190,000 per overseas Filipino worker to fly them home from the Middle East, saying the actual figures are significantly lower.
In a Facebook post, Cacdac called the P190,000 figure “medyo fake news,” saying chartered flights had brought costs as low as P95,000 per person, rising to P127,000 at their peak as crude oil prices pushed up airfare and logistics costs. “Hindi po umabot ng P190k kada tao,” the DMW chief wrote.
The figure he disputed had been cited in a Senate panel report warning that surging repatriation costs were rapidly depleting the government’s emergency funds. Reports citing the Senate panel placed the per-OFW cost at approximately P190,000, attributing the increase to rising airfares and expanded insurance requirements linked to the Middle East conflict.
Cacdac’s rebuttal points to a key distinction: the P190,000 figure reportedly cited by the Senate panel may reflect commercial flight-based estimates or fully loaded costs including welfare assistance and ground logistics, while his department’s lower figures appear to be based on the cost of government-chartered flights specifically. Pre-crisis repatriation costs ranged from P135,000 to P140,000 per OFW, covering travel and logistics to their hometowns. By the March 6 Senate hearing, OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan cited the figure at around P150,000 per person, inclusive of airfare, welfare assistance, and other logistical support until the worker reaches home.
Cacdac also used the post to highlight what he described as a broader and more consequential advantage of charter operations. He argued that chartered flights have allowed the government to bring home OFWs in two weeks — a process that would have taken one and a half months relying on the limited seat allocations offered by commercial airlines. “At kung pareho ang mga ulat at balita na natatanggap natin, hindi po exaggeration na sabihin na ito na ho ang pinakamatinding hidwaan na naranasan natin sa ating henerasyon,” he wrote, describing the ongoing conflict as the worst crisis of the current generation.
As of early April, DMW reported that 4,241 Filipinos had been safely repatriated from the Middle East, with the seventh batch of 344 OFWs and their families arriving from the UAE on April 4.
The secretary also shared a personal account from a mother aboard the seventh charter flight — a woman who had worked in the Middle East for 20 years and resigned on the spot after seeing her child shaking in fear during missile strikes. “Hindi nya maatim na makita ang anak niyang nasa ganoong kondisyon,” Cacdac wrote, adding that the government would extend full reintegration support to her and all other repatriates.
One data point in his post that raised eyebrows: Cacdac cited OWWA’s exit and entry survey results showing that 75 percent of repatriates said they were returning to “escape conflict” — the exact wording used in the survey form. He called characterizations that OFWs were coming home for a holiday or to benefit from government programs a grave insult. “NAKAKALAKI PONG INSULTO SA MGA OFWs ITO,” he wrote in capital letters, adding: “AT AKO PO MISMO AY NASASAKTAN PARA SA KANILA.”
The funding picture remains a concern regardless of which per-OFW cost estimate is correct. OWWA has reported that nearly 20 percent of its P1.6-billion repatriation fund has already been drawn down within weeks of the crisis, and senators have warned the pace is unsustainable. If just one percent of the estimated 2.4 million OFWs in the Middle East — around 24,000 workers — sought repatriation, the government would need approximately P4.8 billion.
Senator Risa Hontiveros has separately proposed a P52.8-billion supplemental fund, with P18 billion earmarked specifically for emergency repatriation operations under DMW and OWWA.
Editor’s Note: The Global Filipino Magazine earlier reported that the cost of repatriating each overseas Filipino worker from the Middle East had reached approximately P190,000, a figure sourced from Bombo Radyo Cauayan 801KHz, which in turn cited the Senate committee on proactive response and oversight chaired by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac has since disputed this figure, saying the actual cost of government-chartered flights ranged from P95,000 to P127,000 per repatriate. We present Cacdac’s clarification in the interest of accuracy.
