Malacañang on Wednesday said it would look into how overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were allowed to travel to Israel and Jordan even as tensions escalated between Israel and Iran.
At least 43 OFWs were stranded in Dubai this week — 18 on Monday, 10 on Tuesday, and 15 on Wednesday — after their connecting flights to Israel and Jordan were canceled due to regional airport shutdowns. Some of the affected workers were newly hired, according to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Palace will thoroughly examine the situation before drawing conclusions.
“We will look into the situation — whether there was any lapse on the part of the Bureau of Immigration in allowing it. We won’t make any immediate judgments. Let’s examine the details,” Castro said.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI), for its part, maintained that there was no standing order prohibiting Filipinos from departing for conflict-affected countries, including via connecting flights. The agency said it had complete data on outgoing movements and was ready to assist with verifications or investigations.
The DMW has yet to issue an explanation regarding the clearance for these workers to deploy despite the rising regional tensions.
The issue has sparked concerns about possible coordination gaps between agencies, especially as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate, prompting widespread airspace closures across the Middle East.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the alert status for Israel would remain at Level 2 under which the deployment of new OFWs is suspended but it does not mandate evacuations.
“No, not yet, we generally leave it to each individual, or to each family, to decide for themselves whether or not they feel safe and whether or not they would like to be evacuated,” Marcos said.
He confirmed that some Filipinos in Israel have requested evacuation, while some in Iran who initially declined assistance have now asked for help due to growing fear.
Marcos also said the government is actively searching for alternate evacuation routes due to airport closures, adding that DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac is on his way to Jordan to oversee coordination efforts.
According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, the government has so far received 150 repatriation requests from Israel and 14 from Iran. The first batch of evacuees — 26 Filipinos from Israel — is expected to pass through Jordan and may arrive home by the weekend.
Israel’s Ministry of Transport has officially closed its airspace to all takeoffs and landings. Iran followed suit shortly after, while several neighboring countries imposed partial or full airspace restrictions as hostilities escalated.