JAKARTA - The first group of Filipinos to return home since US-Israeli strikes on Iran escalated the Middle East conflict arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Thursday morning, February 5, aboard Emirates Flight EK 336 from Dubai.

A total of 299 Filipino passengers, mostly women, plus infants and children, landed after the flight departed Dubai. Of the 299, only 23 were Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), including two children. The remainder were a mix of repatriated Filipinos and other affected travellers, as announced by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac led a whole-of-government reception team. "In the name of our President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., welcome home. We are thankful that you are all safe. Also, we are very thankful to Emirates, to the UAE government for taking care of you, for preparing the flight to Manila as we provide support," Cacdac said. 

Arrivals received financial assistance through the DMW's AKSYON Fund, accommodation and transport from OWWA, medical assistance from the Department of Health, and psychosocial support from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

President Marcos disclosed on Tuesday that 1,416 repatriation requests had been received across both OFWs and non-OFWs, with the highest numbers from Dubai (586), Israel (297), Abu Dhabi (270), Bahrain (231), Jordan (22), and Iran (10). By midday Wednesday, the DMW put the OFW-specific request count at 1,189.

The government has not issued a mass repatriation order because Alert Level 4, which triggers mandatory evacuation, applies only to Gaza, Syria, and Yemen. Lebanon is under Level 3. Iran and Israel are under Level 2, which imposes restrictions on non-essential movement and preparation for possible evacuation. 

The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has not assigned any alert level to UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, or Kuwait, though the DMW has imposed a deployment ban on newly hired workers bound for those countries. 

"The problem is, no planes are flying. And the airports are already being hit," Marcos said at a Malacañang briefing on Tuesday. "Our assessment is that it may be dangerous to fly."

The DFA estimates about 2.5 million Filipinos are in the Middle East, with the largest concentrations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. In Iran, about 1,400 Filipinos are estimated to be present in total, including those married to Iranian nationals, of whom roughly 80 are registered OFWs. 

One Filipino has been confirmed killed. Mary Anne Velazquez De Vera, 32, a caregiver from Basista, Pangasinan, struck by shrapnel from an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv on March 1 while helping her ward to a bomb shelter.  A second OFW sustained neck injuries in a drone attack on Kuwait International Airport and was discharged from hospital on March 1.