ADDING THEIR VOICE AGAINSTWAR Members of Akbayan party gather at Boy Scout Circle in Quezon City on Friday, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. A humanitarian crisis in the Hamas-controlled enclave has sparked protests worldwide against Israel’s all-out military response to the Oct. 7 coordinated attacks by the Islamists. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
A second batch of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arrived on Friday from Israel, fleeing the devastating siege and imminent invasion of Gaza Strip.
The group followed the initial batch of 14 caregivers and four hotel workers who made it back home on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) has identified the fourth Filipino fatality reported on Thursday as caregiver Grace Prodigo Cabrera of Maasin, Iloilo. Like the other fatalities, Cabrera, 44, had been taken hostage and killed by Hamas militants.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said 18 OFWs arrived from Abu Dhabi, where they had been flown from Tel Aviv earlier this week. They were assisted by the Philippine Embassy and DMW office in Abu Dhabi.
Before the arrival of this and the earlier batch of Filipino workers, 18 Filipino scholars who served as agriculture interns in Ashkelon—the Israeli city north of Gaza that had been among the targets of rocket attacks by Hamas—were able to return home on Tuesday, paying for their own plane fare from their allowances.
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Of the estimated 30,000 Filipinos in Israel, around 80 have so far requested repatriation, of whom 39 are now home.
Owwa said these OFWs will each be provided P200,000 in financial assistance, after losing their jobs in Israel because of the conflict in Gaza.
This is apart from the educational and livelihood assistance, as well as employment, medical and psychological support which the government will also provide these workers.
‘Hero’
Regarding the latest fatality, Cabrera was initially identified as one of three missing Filipinos at the start of the conflict in Gaza early this month.
Earlier reported fatalities were Paul Vincent Castelvi and Loreta Alacre, caregivers like Cabrera, and nurse Angelyn Peralta Aguirre.
According to Maasin Mayor Francis Amboy, Hamas militants stormed the home of Cabrera’s patient in the Be’eri kibbutz in southern Israel, near the eastern side of Gaza, on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a coordinated attack on Israel which began the conflict.
She and three relatives of her 85-year-old patient were among the 199 taken hostage by the militants, Amboy said.
“She sacrificed herself for the employer. That’s how we Filipinos are and the love we put in our jobs. We recognize her as a hero because she showed the true hearts of Filipinos,” the mayor said.
Cabrera’s mother, Paterna Prodigo, said Owwa Administrator Arnell Ignacio and the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv were the ones who confirmed her daughter’s death after her body was found in the Be’eri desert and identified through her fingerprint.
“Of course, it’s sad to think, as a mother, that her death has been confirmed. But I’m still thankful that her fingerprints matched because I just want her remains to be brought back to us now,” Prodigo said.
Cabrera’s sister Mae Prodigo Minierva said their mother is “holding on [and] she’s also finding strength in these challenging times.”
Subsidized schooling
Meanwhile, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said it will provide educational assistance to children of repatriated OFWs and those killed in the conflict.
In a statement on Thursday, CHEd Chair Prospero de Vera said the commission and the DMW have coordinated with the families of the four slain Filipinos to provide subsidized schooling to their qualified children or dependents.