Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday called for a “calm, coordinated, and carefully calibrated” government response to safeguard overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as tensions escalate across parts of the Middle East, warning against hasty moves that could trigger unnecessary panic.
Backing Senate Resolution No. 325, later adopted as Senate Resolution No. 41, Cayetano urged the government to ensure the protection of Filipinos in conflict-affected areas and prepare for possible repatriation, while also bracing for potential economic fallout at home.
Cayetano revealed he did not sign the resolution’s earlier draft, citing concerns that a blanket call for immediate repatriation might alarm workers and employers and disrupt labor and diplomatic arrangements.
He moved to amend the language so that repatriation would be carried out only “in necessary situations,” stressing that decisions must be based on actual conditions on the ground.
The senator also pushed to align the resolution’s wording with the Department of Foreign Affairs’ (DFA) updated alert level system, ensuring Senate policy mirrored the same risk assessments used by Philippine embassies and consulates.
Drawing from his stint as Foreign Affairs Secretary (2017–2018), Cayetano stressed that crisis responses must be guided by diplomats and government personnel stationed abroad, who are in direct contact with OFWs, employers, and host governments.
The resolution was adopted as tensions flared following military strikes and retaliatory actions involving Iran and several Gulf states, a region hosting an estimated 2.5 million Filipino workers.
Cayetano said protecting OFWs requires mobilizing available resources, including the DFA’s Assistance to Nationals Fund and the Department of Migrant Workers’ AKSYON Fund, and mounting a whole-of-government response led by the DFA—one that balances compassion with discipline while preparing safeguards for both workers abroad and the Philippine economy.