DMW: 60 more OFWs, 2 infants to return home from Israel on Monday

A fourth batch of Filipinos from Israel are scheduled to return to the Philippines on Monday, October 30, 2023, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Saturday.

"There will be a fourth batch of returning Filipinos courtesy of emergency repatriation efforts ng DMW and OWWA [Overseas Workers Welfare Administration] in partnership with the Philippine Embassy in Tel-Aviv,” DMW officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

Cacdac said the fourth batch of repatriates is composed of 60 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and two infants.

Of the 60 OFWs, 32 are hotel workers and 28 are caregivers, the DMW officer-in-charge said.

“This will bring the total [repatriates] to 119 OFWs plus four infants. That brings us to a total of 123 [Filipinos] by Monday,” Cacdac said.

He added that about 185 Filipinos requested repatriation from Israel amid the ongoing armed conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“We are looking at more or less 65 to 70 more that need to be repatriated,” Cacdac said.

The DMW official said the government has enough funds to cover the expenses of repatriation.

Returning OFWs were offered a repatriation assistance package of P50,000 each from the OWWA to address the needs of their families and help them transition smoothly back to their daily lives.

Cacdac said there are around 30,000 OFWs in Israel, of which “99% of them are caregivers.”

“The remaining balance are hotel workers,” he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier placed Israel under Alert Level 2 following the deadly attack of Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.

The DFA said that Alert Level 2 entails restriction of non-essential movements, avoiding places of protest, and preparation for possible evacuation.

Israel has since then been pounding the Gaza Strip where Hamas is based to flush out the militant group. —KG, GMA Integrated News