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299 stranded Filipinos in UAE land in Philippines amid US/Israel-Iran war
Department of Migrant Workers welcomed the returnees, assuring them of financial, accommodation, transportation, medical and psycho-social assistance
- PUBLISHED: Thu 5 Mar 2026, 10:07 AM
[Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid Israeli, US strikes on Iran for the latest regional developments.]
The Emirates Airlines flight carrying the first batch of stranded Filipinos home from Dubai safely landed in Manila on Thursday morning.
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Flight EK 336 landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 6:45 AM carrying 299 Filipinos, including 23 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and two children.
Mostly are stranded tourists, and some are returning to the Philippines for safety, as advised by their employers, while some have finished their contracts but were caught by the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.
OFW spouses Kevin and Phemar Morilla expressed gratitude for returning home safe, along with their two children and other family members.
Kevin is an operations manager of an oil and gas company in the region who is allowed by his employer to remotely work from the Philippines while the war is ongoing.
Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) secretary Hans Leo Cacdac welcomed the returnees at the airport, assuring them of financial, accommodation, transportation, medical and psycho-social assistance from the agency.
Thank you, UAE
Cacdac thanked the UAE for ensuring the safety and security of Filipinos amid the conflict. “We thank the UAE government and the local government of Dubai for taking care of our compatriots,” he said while welcoming the returnees.
Cacdac also expressed gratitude to other host countries in the Middle East “for their safety protocols and defence system in place.” There are more than 900 Filipinos waiting to return to the Philippines from various countries affected by the US/Israel war on Iran.