The Department of Foreign Affairs is still looking for ways to locate three Filipinos who have gone missing amid the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega told the Daily Tribune on Saturday.
While De Vega has high hopes for the eventual appearance of the three other Filipinos who remain unaccounted for, he said the DFA is still actively "soliciting assistance" from all relevant parties in their search efforts.
Of the 92 Filipinos asking for repatriation, "many of them are now in southern Gaza awaiting approval to reach Rafah crossing," according to De Vega. "About 64 now at the southern area and 16 more still in Gaza City hoping to leave. But numbers change by the hour," he said.
In a Palace briefing on Friday, De Vega said that 92 or over 70 percent of 131 Filipinos in the Gaza Strip — the epicenter of the Israel-Hamas conflict — have requested repatriation, but none has been repatriated yet since Gaza is under blockade.
Meanwhile, in Israel, 22 overseas Filipino workers have sought repatriation.
Eight of them, De Vega said, are expected to return to the Philippines on 16 October, with the Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration covering the expenses.
"In case DMW lacks the funds for repatriation of OFWs, DFA steps in with our own funds," he said.
About 30,000 Filipinos reside and work in Israel, according to the foreign ministry of the Philippines. Many of them serve as caregivers for sick, old or physically disabled Israelis.
At least three Filipinos have been confirmed dead in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas: caregiver Paul Vincent Castelvi, 42, from Pampanga; a 33-year-old woman who had been working in Israel for six years; and caregiver Loreta "Lorie" Alacre, 49, from Negros Occidental.
According to the DFA, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s current focus is on repatriation. However, a blockade in Gaza hinders any movement in and out of the region, rendering repatriation currently unfeasible.
Several lawmakers, including Speaker Martin Romualdez, have urgently called for the swift repatriation of OFWs affected by the ongoing war. Romualdez vowed to make a P500,000 personal donation to help the Alacre family.
The House chief and wife, Tingog Partylist Rep. Yedda Romualdez, also committed to personally give the families of the two additional victims P1 million (P500,000 each).