Charter flights for OFWs in Middle East being arranged —Marcos

The Philippine government is arranging charter flights to repatriate Filipinos amid the tension in the Middle East, President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. said Wednesday (Manila time).

''We have made many arrangements. We are arranging charter flights kasi medyo lumuwag na ang sitwasyon (the situation there had eased a bit),'' the President said in a press briefing in New York City. 

'''Yung lumipad na Emirates coming out of Dubai, nakatatlong flight na yata tayo. Dubai-Manila ‘yun, mga Dubai-Manila. So, that's direct and ‘yun, naisakay natin ‘yung mga ibang Pilipino,'' he added. 

(There's an Emirates flight from Dubai, we already had three flights. That's direct and we were able to accommodate other Filipinos.)

He said it should be safe enough for the Philippine government to make use of charter flights to bring Filipinos home.

''And there are two flights that we are being – that we are planning. One is out of Riyadh para sa mga nasa Saudi, sa Kuwait, and Bahrain (for those in Saudi...) . ‘Yung isa naman out of Fujairah in the UAE to transport ‘yung mga Dubai OFWs (The other one is out of Fujairah in the UAE to transport those OFWs in Dubai),'' Marcos said. 

According to Marcos, there's also a land border crossing from the United Arab Emirates and from Israel, which can be used to transport overseas Filipino workers. 

Marcos added that the government is also eyeing to bring personnel from the Department of National Defense and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in these flights. 

He also said Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac is taking a flight to Dubai to check the situation there. 
 
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro earlier said the government cannot send air assets in the region given that the airspace was shut down due to the tension.

Vice President Sara Duterte had slammed the government as it could not send an aircraft to the Middle East to bring home OFWs amid the ongoing conflict there.—AOL, GMA Integrated News