Bello: No report yet of Pinoy OFWs affected by Saudi oil attacks

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Sunday said the Department of Labor and Employment has not yet received any report that there were Filipinos hurt or affected by the attacks on oil fields in Saudi Arabia.

"Wala pang nakarating sa amin na report galing sa tatlong labor attaché namin—isa doon sa Jeddah, isa sa Riyadh at isa sa Dammam. Wala pa tayong kababayan na apektado doon sa nangyaring drone bombing sa Saudi Arabia," Bello said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

"Sana tuloy-tuloy na silang hindi maapektuhan at magpatuloy ang kanilang pagtatrabaho," he added.

Earlier this month, the DOLE said the government is ready to evacuate around 50,000 overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia after the recent attacks on the country's oil sites.   

Oil facilities of Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil firm, in Abqaiq and Khurais provinces were attacked by drones on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Saudi Arabia and the US blamed Iran for the attacks. Iran however denied any involvement and dismissed the claim of Yemen's Houthi rebels of responsibility for the drone attacks.

US President Donald Trump approved on Friday the sending of American troops to Saudi Arabia to bolster the kingdom's air and missile defenses following the attacks.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday said Iran will pursue any aggressor.

The Philippine Embassy in Tehran, meanwhile, advised Filipinos in Iran to take the necessary precautions after recent events in the region. —KG, GMA News