Long-Term Complications in Gaza Conflict Seen to Move DFA, DMW into Immediate Action

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

In the face of the deaths of Overseas Filipino Workers due to the ongoing conflict at Gaza, Filipinos must  stand united as a nation and support migrant workers without complacency or delay, said Sen. Risa Hontiveros.

The administration, she said,  must continue to prepare amid the volatile situation in and beyond the region, to give kababayans the care and support that they rightfully deserve. 

“I strongly urge the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers to pre-position necessary resources for the swift implementation of their contingency plan to ensure the safety and well-being of Filipino nationals in Israel and Gaza,”  said Hontiveros. 

She cited the need to be prepared to charter flights and buses, hire additional security personnel, and provide adequate medical and humanitarian aid to our kababayan. 

She said there should be a budget for emergency financial assistance and free legal services.

She said the government should immediately release its plans for both short and long-term scenarios  to align with the ongoing budget process. 

Sen. Imee Marcos said the Gaza conflict is not just days-old but centuries-deep. She noted that the country’s foreign policy should guarantee the welfare of nearly 25,000 OFWs and Filipino tourists in pilgrimage in Israel.

And that it should also take care of the more than two million Filipinos throughout the Middle East and North Africa who seek their livelihood in years to come.

“As an ally of the United States, which has committed military support to Israel, we risk retaliatory attacks from militant Hamas sympathizers that a protracted war will likely provoke,” she said. 

“We import practically all of our oil supply from the Middle East,” she also said.

Despite the recent assurance of six OPEC countries to support market stability, Marcos said the country remains vulnerable to the winds of geopolitics. 

The struggles of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, she noted deserve equal regard and are beyond the simplistic narrative of good versus evil.

The prevailing conflict, she said, will be another drawn-out war of global proportions, with no certainty of prompt and peaceful resolution. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said the tragic death of two OFWs in Israel is a grim occurrence.

“We must ensure that the necessary aid reaches them, not only the victims of the violence but also their families,” said Estrada, chairperson of the Senate Labor committee. 

He said the government for this year has sufficient funds — PHP8.9 billion Emergency Repatriation Fund (ERF) for the deportation of our people.  

Only PHP693.5 million or 7 percent of the ERF has been used.