Filipinos seeking to return home from Israel now at 191, says official

CASUALTY OF WAR. A residential building in Bnei Brak City, Israel destroyed by Iranian missile attacks, visited by Philippine embassy officials on June 19, 2025. The lone Filipino at home at the time of the attack survived by immediately hiding in the bomb shelter. (Photo courtesy of PH Embassy in Israel)

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipinos seeking assistance to be repatriated from Israel is now 191, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

On Friday night, the DFA raised Alert Level 3, which calls for voluntary repatriation for Filipinos in Israel and Iran amid escalating tensions between the two Middle East countries.

READ: DFA tells Filipinos in Israel, Iran to voluntarily repatriate

“There are now 191, so more and more people want to go home. As of yesterday, 178. Now, 191. So it’s going up,” DFA Undersecretary for Migration Affairs Eduardo De Vega, speaking in Filipino, said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

“Next week, we’ll start our first batch of about 26 Filipinos going home,” De Vega added.

The DFA undersecretary later detailed that the effort is in coordination with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and aims to bring the Filipinos home by next Monday or Tuesday.

Last Saturday, the DMW said it was on “heightened alert” and ready to assist Filipinos returning from Israel and Iran amid the ongoing conflict.

De Vega reiterated that overseas Filipinos and their families may seek assistance through its Middle East help desk reachable through its 1348 hotline.

Tensions escalated between the two Middle East countries when Israel launched preemptive strikes against military and nuclear facilities in Iran last June 13. /mr