Amid ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran following the recent assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday announced the Senate is ready to conduct a special session in order to pass a supplemental budget to help repatriate overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East should the situation escalate.
The senator noted, if necessary, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration contingency fund is also available for these situations.
“Those funds are readily available for these emergencies,” he explained. “We support the president’s plan to set up a crisis committee in charge of the massive plan to bring back our OFWs in case war breaks out.”
Zubiri added, should such a conflict erupt, it may involve countries such as Saudi Arabia, which hosts over a million OFWs.
Following the airstrike, US President Donald Trump affirmed the action was not intended to provoke conflict.
“We took action last night to stop a war,” he stated in a televised address. “We did not take action to start a war.”
Trump explained the strike was to disrupt an “imminent attack” by Soleimani operatives.
Meanwhile, Duterte met with his cabinet and has since sent a team to the Middle East in order to prepare for evacuations.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, through the Philippine Navy, stated they are ready to send naval assets to the Middle East to help in the evacuation process./DGB, WDJ