Marcos Assures: No Filipino Has Died or Been Hurt in Middle East — OFWs Now in Bomb Shelters, Staying Away From US Bases
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. went on video early Sunday morning to deliver the news every OFW family was desperately waiting for: as of 9 AM Sunday, no Filipino has been killed or injured in the ongoing US-Israel-Iran conflict raging across the Middle East.
'Wala po tayong natatanggap na report na may casualty na Pilipino. Wala pong Pilipino ang namatay, wala na Pilipino nang nasaktan,' Marcos said in his video address, acknowledging the deep anxiety of families with loved ones in the region.
The President revealed that Filipinos in affected areas have moved to bomb shelters and are deliberately staying away from American military bases — the primary targets of Iranian retaliatory strikes. 'Sila ay nakapunta sa mga bomb shelter kung saan sila. At lumalayo sila doon sa mga bases ng Amerikano upang hindi naman sila mapalapit sa alanganin,' he said.
Marcos warned that the conflict is far from over. 'Hindi ito tapos pa. Palagay ko patuloy pa itong giyerang ito,' he said, adding that the government is maintaining round-the-clock monitoring through Philippine embassies and labor attachés across the Middle East.
The DFA and DMW have been placed on full alert since Saturday when the strikes began. With hundreds of thousands of OFWs spread across Gulf states that are now directly involved in the conflict — including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar — the Philippine government's crisis monitoring is being tested like never before.
Source: Manila Bulletin
