PH ready to repatriate OFWs should Taiwan-China tensions escalate, Cacdac says

The Philippines has prepared measures to repatriate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan should tensions against China further escalate, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Saturday.

“We are always ready,” DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

“We have always coordinated ourselves with the proper government agencies,” Cacdac said.

The DMW chief said that he will not divulge further details as to how the over 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be repatriated due to the sensitivity of the matter.

“But rest assured, included in the plan is the manner by which they will be transported,” Cacdac said.

“I’m not at liberty to disclose details but rest assured we are ready, we stand ready, we have a contingency plan specifically in that part of the world,” he said.

The Migrant Workers chief said the Philippine government has identified “convergence points” as to where Filipinos in Taiwan will be secured to safety for their eventual repatriation.

He added that the Taiwanese government has also laid out safety measures and facilities should the conflict escalate.

Cacdac made the remark amid China’s conduct of military drills in the Taiwan Strait to test their ability to “seize power.”

Taiwan has condemned China’s actions.

Cacdac clarified that he does not want to be an alarmist, but reiterated that safety and repatriation measures are in place for Filipinos in Taiwan.

He said an eventual repatriation still depends “on the nature of the armed conflict.”

“But definitely there is a plan,” the DMW chief said. —VAL, GMA Integrated News