DBM releases P50 M for OFW repatriation in conflict areas

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino government has released an additional P50 million to support the continuing repatriation of Filipino workers affected by the conflict in some parts of the Middle East.

The amount will augment the P100-million emergency fund that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) received in August to bankroll the repatriation of Filipinos from Libya, Syria, Iraq and Gaza.

The government has been implementing mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in these places after the DFA raised the crisis alert level to 4.

“Our countrymen face uncertainty and danger due to the untenable security situation in these Middle East countries,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said.

“As such, the government will focus its resources on bringing them back home, even as it shoulders all costs of their repatriation, whether by land, sea or air,” he added.

The Department of Labor and Employment and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will provide P50 million and P800 million, respectively, to help in the repatriation efforts.

“Our repatriation program is an important tool in the government’s support system for Filipinos abroad. It gives us the ability to act on emergency conditions, whether in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” Abad said.

“Our primary goal, as always, is to look out for the welfare of fellow Filipinos around the world, especially those living in conflict zones,” he added.

The DFA ordered the pullout of Filipinos in the Gaza Strip last June due to the conflict between the Israeli government and Hamas.

The agency made a similar call in Iraq, which was being attacked by the extremist group Islamic State.

Last July, the DFA called for the repatriation of Filipinos in Libya due to worsening violence there. The repatriation of Filipino workers in Syria started in December 2012. – With Zinnia dela Peña