President Rodrigo Duterte has directed his cabinet officials to fly to the Middle East to lay the groundwork for the possible forced repatriation of Filipinos staying in the region.
The president ordered Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to immediately fly to the Gulf, while Abdullah Mamao, the chief executive’s adviser on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), was tasked to fly to Iran and Iraq today to convey the call for the safety of the Filipinos.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte articulated that it is the paramount duty of the government to give protection to Filipinos whenever their lives are in peril and wherever they are.
“The President also created a ‘special working committee’ composed of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. who were tasked to draw up a repatriation plan for the Filipinos in the Middle East,” Panelo added.
The assassinarion of Iran’s top military commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani via a US drone strike last week has caused increasing tension in the Middle East region and created a fear of an imminent armed conflict.
There are over two million migrant workers in the Middle East, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
