OFWs from war-torn Israel return home
Credit to Author: Rudy Santos| Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — Sixteen overseas Filipino workers, mostly caregivers, and an infant arrived in the country from war-torn Israel yesterday afternoon.
The OFWs flew from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel-Aviv, Israel to the United Arab Emirates, and then to Manila on Etihad Airways Flight EY464, which landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 at 3:20 p.m.
Caregiver Mylene Rivera, 47, from Pampanga, told The STAR that she experienced the scariest moment of her life.
“At around 7 p.m. last Oct. 7, while I was sleeping in the house of my alaga (ward), a 90-year-old Israeli woman, I heard a bomb explode and then another one, so I ran toward the room of my alaga and brought her to the bomb shelter and we stayed there for so many hours until the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) arrived and brought us to a safer place,” Rivera narrated in Filipino.
Shirley dela Cruz, 39, from Nueva Ecija, recounted seeing something “like fireworks in the sky” in the evening of Oct. 7 while she and her employer were driving away from Nir, Israel to the house of the latter’s son.
“The situation then was really scary; there were many Hamas militants who just stabbed people in the middle of the road,” Dela Cruz said.
She added that she would never return to Israel because of what happened to them.
“Ayoko na (Not anymore),” the OFW said.
She added that most of the Filipino caregivers suffered “panic attacks.”
The 16 of 17 OFWs were met at the NAIA by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac, Sen. Ruffy Tulfo, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) deputy director General John Bertiz III, OFW party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino and Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco.
Cacdac said only 16 OFWs were able to come home because one was sick and not physically fit to board the flight.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) earlier said that 18 Filipinos from Israel would receive financial assistance for work disrupted by the war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.
OWWA administrator Arnell Ignacio earlier said most of the Filipinos who arrived in the country were actually scheduled to come home and not because of the conflict.
“So far, we have brought home 28 Filipinos up to Oct. 14. These people returned home, not because of the conflict. Many of them are scheduled to come home early,” Ignacio said.
He added that the Philippine government has been helping in bringing Filipinos back home from Israel since Oct. 10.
The OWWA, in collaboration with the DMW, will give assistance to OFWs whose livelihoods were disrupted by the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
The agency will lend P50,000 assistance, while DMW will provide counterpart funding, also worth P50,000.
Ignacio said the assistance is higher than usual because of the pay that OFWs in Israel usually get.
TESDA also gave the OFWs P5,000 cash and certificate to avail of a scholarship program.
The evacuation of Filipinos from Gaza is now mandatory, after the DFA on Sunday raised Alert Level 4 over the area amid ongoing air strikes and a deepening crisis.
“What we mean by ‘mandatory’ is that we are not coming to you and pulling you out, but we are telling you to evacuate,” De Vega said in Filipino in an interview over TeleRadyo Serbisyo last Sunday.
“It is up to you what happens to you, because Israel will be attacking (Gaza),” he added.
The Philippine government will not be able to help Filipinos if the situation worsens, according to the DFA official. “We’re ready, but no one can enter or exit Gaza,” he said.
The Philippine government has already accounted for 131 Filipinos in Gaza, at least 78 of whom are now situated near the Rafah border crossing near Egypt.
“All the rest have left northern Gaza or Gaza City, which is expected to be the main site for hostilities,” the DFA said. “The Philippine government continues to work on the repatriation of our nationals and will provide updates on developments.”
The militant Hamas’ surprise incursion has prompted intense aerial bombardment by Israel, a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and an order to evacuate the northern part of the enclave within 24 hours, which began last Thursday evening, local time.
Israeli forces hammered Gaza, resulting in more than 2,000 dead, and prepared for a ground invasion after the attack by Hamas that triggered the bloodiest war in the country’s territory in decades.
Israel said more than 1,300 citizens and foreigners had been brutally massacred by Hamas, and that roughly 2,500 terrorists have entered the country.
Following these developments, a special team composed of personnel from various government agencies has been deployed at the NAIA to assist OFWs returning home from war-torn Israel.
The DMW yesterday reported that it has joined forces with various government agencies in providing assistance to returning OFWs.
“The government agencies will provide immediate assistance and other forms of support, including psycho-social counseling, stress debriefing, medical referral and temporary accommodation to the OFWs while awaiting transit to their respective provinces,” the agency said.
Labor Attaché Rodolfo Gabasan of the Migrant Workers Office in Tel-Aviv, Vice Consul Patricia Narajos and welfare officer Dina Ponciano escorted the group of 17 OFWs at Ben Gurion International Airport, where they boarded their return flight to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Philippine embassy in Beirut has urged Filipinos close to Lebanon’s southern border to evacuate preemptively amid persistent tension in the area.
“Due to the persistent tension in Lebanon’s southern border, posing a significant threat to the safety and security of civilian residents, the Philippine embassy urges all Filipino nationals close to the border to evacuate preemptively to ensure their well-being and security,” the embassy said in its advisory.
Since violence escalated between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory on Oct. 7, there have also been reports of clashes in the border between Israel and south Lebanon, resulting in casualties among civilians.
The Israeli military on Sunday said it intercepted five of nine rockets fired from Lebanon.
Israel said it has no interest in waging war on its northern front if the Lebanese group Hezbollah restrains itself.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has prepared military aircraft for the repatriation of Filipinos caught in the conflict in Israel should the Philippine government raise Alert Level 4 over the country.
“If the (Department of Foreign Affairs) will recommend, and the President will direct us to fly our assets to where they should be, the airport of embarkation, then we will do it for the sake of our nation,” AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar told ABS-CBN News Channel. – Mayen Jaymalin, Pia Lee-Brago, Neil Jayson Servallos, Emmanuel Tupas