Deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Middle East has begun to decline, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said. 

DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said that many workers are voluntarily withdrawing from their contracts amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

“There are reports that some deployments are not pushing through, and in fact, deployment has significantly declined because many of our OFWs are already deciding not to continue,” Cacdac said in a television interview.

“That’s why we are only issuing an advisory to stay where you are. After all, no one is ‘stranded’ in their own country,” he added.

Earlier reports claimed that 40,000 OFWs were stranded due to a deployment ban, but Cacdac explained that this figure does not fully reflect the actual situation, according to information from recruitment agencies.