THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration-Davao Region (Owwa-Davao) announced on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, during the AFP-PNP Press Corps press conference at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, Davao City, that they have not yet received any reports of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the region affected by the current conflict situation in Israel.
“As of this moment wala pay taga-Davao nga nangayog assistance but we already have our 24/7 hotline. Gina-encourage nato ang mga pamilya nga naa diri sa Pilipinas nga manawag para makabalo ta kung asa pangitaonon, kung naa ba sila sa shelter or sa embassy (As of this moment, no one from Davao has asked for assistance but we already have our 24/7 hotline. We encourage families who are here in the Philippines to call so we would know where to look for their family, if they are in the shelter or at the embassy),” Gina Quimora, officer-in-charge of Owwa-Davao, said.
Both Owwa and the Department of Migrant Workers-Davao Region (DMW-Davao) have set up helplines called Task Force Israel Desk for OFWs in Israel. They also have emails for welfare cases posted on their official website.
Based on the current report, around 24,807 Filipinos are working in Israel, wherein 22,173 are distributed in caregiving industry; 1,840 in hotel services; 680 from religious sectors (priests, nuns, pastors, seminarians) and Filipino students from other countries (not sponsored by Philippine Schools; 50 are aerospace technicians; 50 arava technicians; and 14 are gasfield engineers). On the other hand, 6,808 are undocumented and permanent residents.
Out of these numbers, the Owwa-Davao has yet to update the number of OFWs coming from the region.
“Wala pa tay data kung pila kabook ang mga taga-Davao nga naa karon sa Israel pero di ta mabalaka kay wala pay taga-Davao gyud nga ni-reach out sa atoang opisina (We still don't have data on the total number of OFWs from Davao in Israel, but we don't have to worry because no OFW from Davao has reached out to our office yet),” Quimora added.
As of today, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported two Filipinos killed in Israel-Hamas geopolitical tension while three are still missing.
Areas close to the Gaza Strip are most severely impacted, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Sderot. Around 200 OFWs are thought to have been the most severely impacted by the war in these regions.
“The Philippines condemns the killing of two Filipino nationals and all other acts of terrorism and violence as a result of Hamas actions against Israel,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said on X (formerly Twitter). DEF