Senate seeks contingency plan for OFWs

The senate called for an emergency briefing from cabinet leaders regarding contingency plans for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East, following the recent killing of the Israeli minister of tourism in a occupied Jerusalem hotel.

"There is no cause for alarm, but we want to know what the government can do for OFWs in case tension in the Middle East escalates," said Senator Blas Ople, head of the senate foreign relations committee.

Labour Secretary Patricia Sto Tomas, Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes, and Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said they have prepared their respective statements during the senate committee hearing next week.

"The safe evacuation of OFWs has been in place earlier, immediately after the terror attacks in the U.S. on September 11," said Sto Tomas.

"The government has made earlier arrangements in response to any crisis in the Middle East," said Soliman, adding that contingency plans, including additional planes and areas for the safe evacuation of OFWS have been drawn up.

"We should not be complacent," Ople said, "the senators just want to make sure that we will have the means to protect the safety and the lives of our million-plus workers in the Middle East."

"We want assurance and we can get that only through a briefing," Ople explained. There are almost one million OFWs in the Middle East.