Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla confirmed on Wednesday that 12 local officials from Bulacan are currently stranded in Dubai.

Speaking during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum, Remulla said the officials left the country on 25 February and had indicated in their travel applications that the trip was in a personal capacity.

“Personal capacity… that’s what was stated in their application, so we allowed it. As long as no government funds are used, they will be allowed,” Remulla said.

Remulla said the group includes 11 vice mayors, with one of them bringing along his mayor.

“The mayor doesn't seem to have travel authority. We'll check to see if it's true, we'll verify it but it doesn't seem to have one,” Remulla said.

He added that the group departed last week with travel authority issued for the vice mayors.

“They left on Wednesday last week, there was travel authority. There were like 11 vice mayors from Bulacan. So now they're stuck in Dubai,” Remulla said.

According to the DILG chief, the officials have yet to formally seek assistance from his office while authorities continue verifying whether the mayor indeed traveled without the required clearance.

Possible OFW evacuation

Remulla also said the DILG is preparing to assist in the possible repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as tensions escalate in the Middle East.

He noted that around one million Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia could be affected if the conflict worsens.

“One million Filipinos in the UAE, in Saudi Arabia, are stuck in the middle of a war. I might have to go there and start arranging their repatriation to come back,” Remulla said.

Remulla said the logistics of a mass evacuation would be challenging due to the limited number of aircraft capable of servicing long-haul Middle East routes.

He noted that Philippine Airlines has around 50 aircraft in its fleet, but only about half can fly routes to the Middle East, while Cebu Pacific currently has only two aircraft capable of making the trip.

“Kung 5,000 passengers a day ang kaya nating pabalik-balik dito, do the math, 1 million divided by 4,000, that’s 250 days na araw-araw. So, the logistics is not easy, but if it is necessary, we will do our best para maibalik sila dito,” he said.