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Alexis Romero - The Philippine Star
March 19, 2026 | 12:00am
Overseas Filipino workers from Bahrain and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday night.
OWWA
MANILA, Philippines — Another batch of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Middle East is expected to be repatriated within the month through a government-arranged flight, Malacañang said yesterday.
Executive Secretary Ralph Recto said President Marcos has directed agencies to continue arranging flights that would bring home Filipinos from war-impacted zones.
“The instruction of the President is clear: to keep the humanitarian airlift going. The Air DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) of Secretary Hans (Cacdac) would continue,” Recto said.
Almost 1,100 Filipinos have boarded repatriation flights arranged by the agency.
Recto gave assurance that the government has sufficient funds to carry out repatriation efforts.
The latest repatriation flight carried 343 Filipino workers and their dependents from Riyadh and Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on March 15.
Evacuation efforts are ongoing in Israel, Kuwait and Bahrain.
If crisis escalates
A prolonged and escalating crisis in the Middle East would require additional government support, the DMW said yesterday.
“While funds are presently still sufficient, we need to anticipate that if the crisis extends and escalates, additional funding will be needed,” DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said at the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum.
Olalia confirmed that another OFW was arrested in Saudi Arabia for allegedly posting videos of airstrikes on social media.
Remittance
The repatriation of OFWs will not seriously affect dollar remittance, which reached $38 billion in 2025, according to migration and recruitment expert Manny Geslani.
Even if the number of repatriated OFWs reaches 3,000, their total remittances will only be $15 million by the end of 2026, Geslani noted.
Meanwhile, 12 Filipino crew members of oil tanker Safesea Vishnu have been rescued, the Philippine embassy in Baghdad said yesterday.
The seafarers are in the Basra Governorate in Southern Iraq, the embassy said.
Safesea Vishnu was attacked on March 11 off the coast of Iraq. – Christine Boton, Rudy Santos, Pia Lee-Brago
