Twenty overseas Filipino workers have taken shelter in Dubai as the Philippine government prepares evacuation measures for a larger group seeking to return home — though a closed airspace is preventing departures for now.
Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac confirmed Monday that at least 80 OFWs in the UAE have formally indicated they want to be repatriated. The shelter occupants are being provided food, water, and other basic needs while the situation develops.
The UAE is currently classified under Alert Level 2 in the government’s monitoring system. Under DMW protocols, mandatory repatriation is only triggered at Alert Level 4, but Cacdac noted that the current classification already carries consequences: a deployment ban to the affected country takes effect automatically at Level 2.
Transport services have been arranged for workers who want to relocate within the country, with shelters sourced from both host-country facilities and the government’s own Migrant Workers Office and OWWA sites.
“Mayroong mga identified exit points doon sa mga nag-manifest na nais na nila ding umuwi, we are working out along with the DFA and the host countries iyong manner in which we will start moving people through these exit points,” Cacdac said.
In-country assistance is the government’s immediate priority, he added, with funds from the OWWA and the DMW’s action fund available to cover essential needs — particularly for workers who have lost or temporarily stopped working.
OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan said the agency has extended help to OFWs stranded at airports in Manila, Clark, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development said it is positioned to take over once workers land on Philippine soil. DSWD Spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said Secretary Rex Gatchalian has already met with Cacdac to coordinate repatriation planning.
“Ang DSWD can provide financial assistance, psychosocial interventions, and livelihood assistance para sa mga kapwa Pilipino natin na uuwi sa kanikanilang probinsya pag sila ay nakarating na sa bansa,” Dumlao said.
Funding for the expected influx of returnees will draw from the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program, which Dumlao said has sufficient resources. The agency is also hosting this week’s ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council Meetings in Makati, where the welfare of migrant workers from member states is on the agenda.
The broader conflict sharpened over the weekend after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the death of Mary Anne Velazquez de Vera, a Filipino caregiver killed by shrapnel during an airstrike in Israel. Cacdac said the DMW and the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv are working with De Vera’s husband — also a caregiver in Israel — on the repatriation of her remains.
On Monday, the Israeli military announced it had launched what it described as large-scale strikes on Tehran, two days into a joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran. US President Donald Trump said American service member deaths would be avenged and warned the conflict could stretch on for weeks.
