Jonathan Frederic De Santos

Article (news)

Repatriation

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA<strong> (UPDATED) </strong>— More than 300 Filipinos returned home from the United Arab Emirates Thursday afternoon aboard a third flight chartered by the Philippine government. </p><p>Among the 317 on the flight were 153 Overseas Filipino Workers with 114 dependents, and 50 stranded Filipino passengers.</p><p>The plane carrying repatriated Filipinos landed at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.</p><p>The passengers were welcomed by Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head PY Caunan.</p><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:514px;height:602px;display:block;flex-grow:1" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2034534292500652427&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2026-03-19T09%3A17%3A01.359397%3A562ab739-24a5-453f-b89a-14db2719c33f%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=b88e481eed505b6b2da35475b557bc58c254d649&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" data-tweet-id="2034534292500652427"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was supposed to welcome the flight but was meeting the Economy and Development Council when the plane landed.</p><p>Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the president had directed the flight to land at Villamor for convenient immigration processing and so their families could fetch them with less hassle.</p><p>“Nais ng pangulo na maibsan ang bigat na naranasan nila bago sila makabalik ng Pilipinas,” she also said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/18/ph-sends-third-gov-t-chartered-flight-for-ofws-in-middle-east-1123"><strong>PH sends third government-chartered flight for Filipinos in Middle East</strong></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>DMW THANKS UAE AUTHORITIES</strong></div><p>“Lubos na pasasalamat natin sa UAE authorities sa pag-facilitate ng mga kinakailangan para makalipad itong flight na ito,” Cacdac said in a chance interview before the arrival Thursday. </p><p>The latest flight brings the number of repatriated Filipinos to around 1,400 since the Middle East conflict triggered by tUS-Israel strikes against Iran began, according to Cacdac.</p><p>“Timing is everything, logistical operations are everything, coordination with the host country would mean everything... We just had to hurdle those factors and then of course ‘yung mismong eroplano na we made sure may sufficient volume,” he said when asked about the challenges they faced in arranging the repatriation.</p><p>A fourth government-chartered flight is expected to arrive this weekend, according to Cacdac.</p><p>For now, the Philippine government is arranging the repatriation of around 800 Filipinos from affected areas in the Gulf region mainly from Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, and Israel as requests to return home continue to pour in.</p><p>He said repatriation is ongoing, but some Filipinos have immigration issues in their host countries that need to be settled before they can leave.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>FILIPINOS DETAINED FOR ALLEGED SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, Cacdac confirmed the number of detained Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly posting harmful digital content related to the strikes has increased to four. </p><p>He said DMW is coordinating with Ambassador Alfonso Ver on assistance to the four.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/3/15/2-filipinos-reported-arrested-in-uae-for-posting-videos-of-attacks-1552"><strong>2 Filipinos reported arrested in UAE for posting videos of attacks<br/></strong></a></div><p>He said Marcos Jr. has directed them to ensure the welfare of the four and to “provide all the legal assistance available and to put forward any possible legal defense within the laws of the host country.”</p><p>Cacdac declined comment on their chances for release.</p><p>He added that Filipino casualties in the ongoing casualties remain at one fatality and three injured — two from UAE and one from Kuwait.</p>

<p>A total of 317 Filipinos has returned home from the United Arab Emirates Thursday afternoon aboard the third chartered flight arranged by the Philippine Government. </p>

A total of 317 Filipinos has returned home from the United Arab Emirates Thursday afternoon aboard the third chartered flight arranged by the Philippine Government.

Over 300 Filipinos return to PH from UAE aboard third government-chartered flight

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Over 300 Filipinos return to PH from UAE aboard third government-chartered flight

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 19, 2026 06:03 PM PHT

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Updated Mar 19, 2026 06:34 PM PHT

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repatriation

Middle East Hans Cacdac

PY Caunan

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