President Marcos assures continued repatriation of Filipinos amid Middle East conflict

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured the public on Wednesday that the government will continue to bring home Filipinos seeking repatriation from the Middle East amid the Iran conflict.

In a presidential address at Malacañan Palace, Marcos said authorities are closely coordinating with their counterparts in host countries for the safe repatriation of Filipinos and to avoid any potential misencounters.

“‘Pag nasa 10,000 feet ‘yung eroplano, hindi nila malaman kung ‘yun ba ay mga militar o ‘yun ba ay sibilyan. Baka magkaproblema, magka-misencounter kung tawagin. Kaya ngayon, tinitiyak natin na lahat ng movement ay cleared by the local authorities para lahat sila ay maging safe,” the President said.

He noted that the government is arranging chartered flights for returning Filipinos and it is also looking to have more flights, depending on the guidance from local authorities.

“We are chartering flights. We are now, we started with one a week. We will start to accelerate that to two a week. Depende talaga kung kailan nila sasabihin sa atin na maaari nang magpalipad,” the President said.

“We will continue to do this until the war ends or until we have repatriated all of our nationals back home here to the Philippines,” President Marcos added.

The President reported that more than 2,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have already been repatriated, while over 16,000 affected Filipinos have received various forms of assistance, including food, shelter, medical aid, transportation, and financial support.

Marcos also highlighted the Philippines’ strong ties with Middle East nations, attributing this to the positive reputation of Filipino workers, which has helped facilitate coordination efforts.

“Mabuti na lang at maganda ang relasyon natin at kinakaibigan natin silang lahat at very appreciative ang mga host countries sa ating mga workers dahil nga sinasabi nila napakagaling at napakaganda ang kanilang ginagawa,” the President said.

“Nakipag-ugnayan tayo sa kanila kaagad at tiniyak sa atin na ang seguridad ng ating mga OFW ay kanilang binabantayan at tinitiyak nila na ang ating mga OFW ay hindi malalagay sa alanganin.”