Support for Filipino workers abroad will keep flowing regardless of the fresh violence gripping the Middle East, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) declared on July 20, 2026, casting the pledge as a direct instruction handed down from the country’s leadership.
That assurance was voiced by OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan, who tied the agency’s stance to a presidential order covering Filipinos everywhere, not just those in the conflict zone. “Hindi ‘ho tayo titigil. ‘Yan po ang direktiba ng ating mahal na Pangulo na tuloy-tuloy pa rin po tayo sa pagbigay ng tulong sa ating mga kababayan at hindi lamang po sa Gitnang Silangan,” she said.
Caunan, speaking alongside Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac, laid out the forms of help within reach of affected workers: assistance on the ground, repatriation, and a follow-through package that handles both their arrival home and their return to normal life.
The commitment builds on an operation that has already pulled more than 11,000 workers and their dependents out of the Middle East and back to Philippine soil. Getting them home took 126 flights, both commercial and chartered, mounted by the DMW and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in step with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Embassies, host governments, and Filipino communities across the region.
Returning workers, meanwhile, are being steered toward the National Reintegration Network and its partner agencies, which open the door to livelihood and financial aid, skills training, and help landing a job. Those offerings are available to the repatriated workers themselves and to the families who depend on them.
