THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa) on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, reported that a total of 99 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been repatriated from the conflict-hit Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
In a statement, Owwa reported the arrival of 65 additional OFWs repatriated on Tuesday in two batches: 50 in the first batch and 15 in the second batch.
"With the arrival of this group, the total number of OFWs brought home by Owwa from October 19 to October 20 has reached 99," said Owwa.
It said 249 OFWs are still in the pipeline for repatriation from KSA, with 50 scheduled to return on October 21, 49 on October 23, 110 on October 25, and 40 on October 26.
"A total of 249 more OFWs have confirmed flight bookings and are scheduled to return to the Philippines between October 21 and October 26 as part of our ongoing repatriation operations," said Owwa.
In a related development, recruitment analyst Emmanuel Geslani said at least 2,000 OFWs bound for Saudi Arabia stand to lose their jobs due to the continued lack of flights.
In a statement, Geslani said a large number of domestic workers who are rehires or on vacation may lose their jobs due to the extended flight cancellations to Riyadh.
"OFW re-hires cannot return to their employers in Riyadh with the closure of the airport and the increasing danger to other Saudi airports with the rebel Houthis missile and drone attacks on Saudi airspace," said Geslani.
He noted that OFWs' re-entry permits to the KSA specify return-to-work dates, usually within two to three weeks.
"With the closure of Riyadh, they may not be able to return and their work permits can be cancelled by the employers," said Geslani. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)