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Christine Boton - The Philippine Star
May 8, 2026 | 12:00am
Around 244 OFWs that were repatriated from Bahrain returned to the Philippines on Friday, April 3, 2026.
DMW / Release
MANILA, Philippines — More than 9,000 overseas Filipino workers have been repatriated so far amid the continuing crisis in the Middle East, with the government set to sustain repatriation flights and financial assistance programs for affected OFWs, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said yesterday.
Speaking during a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1, Cacdac said 9,038 OFWs had returned to the country as of May 7.
“The repatriation flights will continue, among others, in Kuwait, because it is reported that there are still many refugees returning,” he said.
Cacdac added that seven out of eight Filipino seafarers were seriously injured after an alleged Iranian drone strike on the Malta-flagged ship CMA CGM San Antonio, while transiting in the Strait of Hormuz near Oman on May 5.
He said all injured Filipino crew members are undergoing treatment, some of them confined in the intensive care unit of an undisclosed hospital.
“The seafarers survived the attack, and they have been taken out of the ship,” Cacdac said.
“Four of them have relatively minor injuries, while three are in more serious condition and are being closely monitored,” he added.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said it is maintaining communication with the seafarers and their families.
As of yesterday, around 1,400 Filipino seafarers had exited the Strait of Hormuz, including 92 crew members aboard four vessels that left the area within the past week.
The DMW also said it is coordinating with manning agencies and shipowners to facilitate the extraction of Filipino workers from the Persian Gulf as regional tensions continue.
Cacdac said the government has started permitting Filipino replacement crew members to take over for those leaving vessels in the region, especially workers whose contracts have expired or who are suffering from fatigue or post-traumatic stress.
