VIENTIANE, Laos — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday convened a meeting via Zoom with the concerned Cabinet Secretaries to discuss the situation in conflict-areas in the Middle East.

The President presided over a Cabinet meeting amid his hectic schedule on the sidelines of the ongoing 44th and 45th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Summits here.

Present during the meeting were Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, and the Philippine envoys in the Middle East.

Before he left the Philippines for the Asean summit, Marcos urged Filipinos in Lebanon and Israel to return to the country while flights were still available.

"We hope that you will avail yourselves of our repatriation program while flights are available," Marcos told Filipinos in Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday.

The President said that "in the meantime, heed the advisories of the Philippine Embassy and the Lebanese and Israeli governments."

Marcos reassured the public that the Philippine government was doing everything it could to ensure the safety of over 40,000 Filipinos in Lebanon and Israel and promised to bring them home.

He also said that no Filipino has been reported injured in the crisis—the wave of attacks against Hezbollah targets in the past few days, and the consequent Iranian reprisal against Israel.

"Our embassies have been coordinating with the Filipino community on this matter and working on securing exit papers and transportation for those returning," Marcos said.

Of the 1,500 initial applicants for repatriation from Lebanon, a third have gone home, while around 500 are still having their papers processed.

Marcos said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) would expedite the process while Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) would be chartering the flights to bring them home

For October, the President said, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and OWWA would be bringing home at least 162 distressed overseas Filipino workers from Israel.

"I expect the Secretaries of the DFA and the DMW and the Administrator of OWWA to report to me with updates daily," Marcos said.

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