Distressed

In Beirut, Lebanon in 2020, I saw bullet-ridden buildings, gun-trotting men roaming the streets and I passed by malls that were padlocked.

At the time, there was an economic implosion because of the hard times, worsened by the pandemic. There was also an explosion that had just ripped through the capital. Distressed Filipinos in the Middle Eastern country, not surprisingly, were desperate to go back home to the Philippines, even though they weren’t sure what awaited them in their home country. I was there to cover their repatriation flight back to Manila.

Fast forward to 2024 and the situation has worsened. Overseas Filipinos (OFWs) who chose to stay in Lebanon instead of joining the repatriation flights in 2020, and those who came after, now have no choice but to go home because of the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Israel’s airstrikes on suspected Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon continue.

According to the Department of Migrant Workers, a series of nine flights will be available until Oct. 28 as commercial airlines in Beirut have resumed operations,

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said in an interview with TeleRadyo that 430 OFWs and 28 dependents have so far returned to Manila since October last year when hostilities flared between Israel and Gaza.

If the 151 OFWs return home as planned, the total number of repatriated Filipino workers will rise to around 600, he said.

The next problem

It’s good for them to return home and be safe from the conflict but the next problem that our returning kababayans will face is reintegration into the economy.

From the 2020 repatriation flight which I covered, some of those who went home struggled to make a living. Others opted to go back to chaotic Lebanon.

One former domestic helper who returned home on that flight put up a small business peddling snacks around construction job sites.

It’s a far cry from the money she was making as a domestic helper in Beirut, she said. We’ve been in touch since she went home in 2020. She hopes to have a better job here or find another opportunity in a foreign country.

What the government needs to do therefore is to help returning OFWs find gainful opportunities here so they won’t be forced by desperate circumstances to leave the country again if they don’t want to.

Cacdac said all repatriated Filipino workers from Beirut will be entitled to P150,000 in cash assistance from the DMW and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. The amount is estimated to cover four to six months of their wages.

While this will provide relief, this will not be enough.

The Marcos administration must be ready for the possibility that in the years to come, many more OFWs will be forced to come home as wars rage on across the globe.

What happens if a great number of our two million Filipinos abroad decide to return home due to conflicts in their host countries?

Cash assistance won’t be enough. They would need stable employment and decent-paying jobs.

The government must provide more free training so returning OFWs can upskill or learn new skills.

Jobs in the hospitality sector can be an option for returning domestic helpers which means our Department of Tourism must tap opportunities in the sector for our distressed OFWs.

A year after

As for the ongoing conflict itself, I hope that for the sake of humanity, the war will come to an end. It’s been a year since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and as I write this, there seems to be no end in sight.

On Friday, in Beirut, the Israel Defense Forces said its troops fired at United Nations peacekeepers during its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, following two incidents in 48 hours.

France, Italy and Spain have condemned Israel’s actions, saying these must end.

Men, women and children in Lebanon have been caught in the crossfire while Hezbollah and Israel exchange attacks. If we think this war is too far from our corner of the world, we are mistaken.

Already, the conflict in the Middle East is threatening whatever gains we will be reaping from easing inflation – a four year-low of 1.9 percent in September – as oil prices are again on the rise.

Next week, we must brace for a big oil price hike in local pump prices of as much as P2 per liter as a result of the escalating conflict.

What happens next is still anyone’s guess. Devastation has been widespread; some 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, according to foreign news reports.

What can the rest of the world do amid the destruction?

Three weeks ago, the Philippines voted in favor of a United Nations resolution urging Israel to end its “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” within a year.

Such calls must ring louder amid the deafening noise of exploding bombs. The international community, our country included, must continuously call an end to the conflict and support for a more humane future for both Israelis and Palestinians.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.