The Department of Migrant Workers came under fire over its alleged slow response to the request for the repatriation of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) stranded in the conflict-stricken Middle East.

As of 4 March, the DMW received 1,416 repatriation requests from OFWs in the Middle East. The numbers exceeded approximately 2,000 on Friday, or two days later.

Of the total, around 60 OFWs were only able to be sent back to the Philippines via two Emirates flights, DMW Chief Hans Cacdac told the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on Friday on the government’s response to the ongoing conflict, citing airspace closure of most Middle Eastern countries. 

"Airspace is closed in all countries covered by the requests for repatriation. So, our only option is land crossing,” Cacdac said. “We are basically limited  by the fact that air transport is severely curtailed due to airspace closure.” 

The figures, however, irked Senator Rodante Marcoleta, saying the level of response was notably slow at only 4 percent.

“This is not yet the worst scenario… Out of 1,416, only 60 were repatriated? This is not the kind of response,” Marcoleta stressed. “Per Asec. [assistant secretary], this is a one-country team response. It doesn’t seem to be that way.”

Cacdac, however, explained that they are only transporting stranded Filipinos via land, which is significantly longer than flying.

He said the land routes in the United Arab Emirates and Israel usually take around two to three hours travel time.

“What we are doing now is to ensure that when we transport them by land, it is safe, and the element of risk is low. So it's not that simple,” he argued.

There are over 2.4 million OFWs in the Middle East. Data by the Department of Foreign Affairs showed that the estimated number of Filipinos in Israel and Iran, the focal points of the conflict, is pegged at 30,000 and 800, respectively. 

DFA Assistant Secretary Germina Usudan projected that the war in the Middle East is likely to continue for four weeks to eight weeks more, citing reports obtained by their office. 

“It’s not like the previous Israel-Iran war, which only took 12 days,” she told the committee. “We received reports that Iran would like to negotiate, but it was discounted by the Iranian government. And [United States President Donald] Trump said yesterday that he’s more ready for war this time.” 

DFA Assistant Secretary Ezzedin Tago told senators that as of 4 March, five Filipino pilgrims were repatriated from Tel Aviv, Israel, via the Taba land border crossing into Egypt. Four of them already took a flight on Thursday. 

It was unclear, however, if they formed part of the 60 OFWs.

As this developed, the DMW announced that 81 more OFWs aboard Emirates Airlines had already arrived at Pasay City early Saturday. Another 19 OFWs were repatriated from Jeddah to the Philippines late on the same day.

The DMW had already asked Congress for supplemental funding to bankroll the repatriation expenses for millions of distressed Filipinos in the Middle East if the ongoing conflict there reaches “worst-case scenario.”

Cacdac did not provide an estimated additional repatriation fund, though he concurred with the figures cited by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, head of the Committee on Finance, who estimated that the supplemental budget may reach as high as P13 billion. However, the amount would only cover 93,000 Filipinos, regardless of whether they are OFWs or pilgrims.