A partylist representative on Monday said the missile attacks in Saudi Arabia posed a threat to the safety of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Gulf state.
ACTS-OFW Rep. Aniceto ‘John’ Bertiz III said the attack, if not intercepted, could have harmed the Filipinos working there.
“There are over 1.2 million Filipinos working in Saudi Arabia. Any projectile that is not intercepted by the Saudi air force is bound to put in harm’s way the lives of our workers there,” Bertiz said.
Bertiz also underscored the meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Saudi Prince and Interior Minister H.R.H. Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif last week.
One of the deals secured during the meeting is the added protection of OFWs especially against terrorism.
“Prince Abdulaziz was here partly to reassure our President that Saudi Arabia is looking after Filipino workers in the kingdom, and also to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the fields of defense and security, especially in the war on terror,” Bertiz said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Monday there were no Filipino casualties in Saudi Arabia following the ballistic missile attacks fired by Yemeni rebels.
In a statement, DFA said they have yet to receive any reports of Filipino casualties in the attacks late Sunday evening.
“No Filipinos were reported among the casualties after Huthi rebels in Yemen fired 7 ballistic missiles towards Riyadh and several other areas.”
Seven ballistic missiles were reportedly fired by Huthi rebels in different locations in Saudi – three towards Riyadh; one on Khalid Mushait; one on Narjan; and two towards Jizan.
The missiles, however, were intercepted and destroyed by the Saudi government.
The fragments of the interception resulted to one casualty while two others sustained injuries.
