Photo courtesy of the Philippine Embassy in Egypt

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has disbursed a total of P5.4 million in aid to support the repatriation efforts for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and other overseas Filipinos (OFs) affected by the conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

Since the repatriation commenced on October 18, a total of 272 OFWs and OFs from Israel, Lebanon, West Bank, and Palestine have been assisted.

As of November 14, 14 batches of repatriates have returned to the Philippines.

The assistance provided by DSWD includes both cash and food aid. Each repatriate received PHP10,000 in cash aid and an additional PHP10,000 in food assistance through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.

The DSWD, in collaboration with other government agencies, is committed to a whole-of-government approach in assisting repatriates during these challenging times.

Additionally, the DSWD has implemented the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) program to support families affected by Super Typhoon Egay in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). As of now, 84.6 percent of the 6,150 target beneficiaries in CAR have received ECT, totaling PHP6,000 per family.

The ECT program aims to bridge the gap between immediate disaster relief, humanitarian response, and early recovery support by providing unconditional cash assistance to families affected by disasters.

The DSWD is set to provide over PHP1.1 billion in ECT assistance to families affected by Super Typhoon “Egay” in CAR, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Mimaropa.

The DSWD, as the vice-chair for the Disaster Response and Early Recovery Pillar of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), assures the public of the integrity of the ECT process to ensure efficient and effective service delivery to disaster-stricken families.

(ai/mnm)

By Junex Doronio

WITH THE “LONG AND DIFFICULT” WAR between Israel and the Hamas militants of Palestine, economist and former National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Cielito Habito said taming inflation may have just become more difficult as the price increase of oil products may occur sooner or later.

Habito pointed out that oil prices were already driving domestic inflation even before the conflict erupted.

“The Middle East conflict really puts pressure again on, among other things, oil prices. And this has been one of the important drivers of our inflation,” he said in a chance interview with ABS-CBN News at the sidelines of a Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) event on Wednesday.

Earlier, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu warned of a “long and difficult war” after the “surprise attack” into Israel on Saturday, October 7, by Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian exclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

An economist from Moody’s Analytics also earlier warned that the Israel-Hamas war could send oil prices surging above $90 per barrel level for a sustained period.

“We saw (the inflation rate) tick up again last August and September so to expect inflation to be easing down for the rest of the year seems to be a bit of a challenge especially because of the possible increase in oil prices,” Habito explained.

But hope springs eternal.

“Obviously, it’s good to keep targeting for a good growth this year but the challenges seem to be mounting. That means our government and our business sector have to be running double time to be able to get that kind of growth that we were hoping to get this year,” Habito said. (ai/mnm)

By Junex Doronio

DESPITE THE WARNING OF ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu of a “long and difficult war” with the Hamas militants of Palestine, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday expressed confidence that the Middle East conflict will have little effect on food production in the Philippines.

In a statement, DA Assistant Secretary for Operations Arnel de Mesa said that the conflict would have “very little impact” on food supply.

He noted, however, that Israel being a longtime trade partner of the Philippines, has been importing desiccated coconut, pineapple juice and concentrates, and other mixtures from Filipino producers.

De Mesa further said that total exports to Israel reached 3.441 million kilograms last year, while 3.366 million kilograms of various agricultural commodities have been exported there from January to June.

The Philippines also imported $3.28 million worth of fertilizer from Israel in 2022, according to the DA.

The Hamas militants launched an attack from the Gaza Strip on Saturday that has so far killed at least 800 Israelis and injured 2,600 more, the Israeli government said.

Retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza targets have killed 687 people and wounded another 3,727, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Maharlika NuMedia gathered that Israel only captured Gaza during the so-called Six-Day-War in 1967.

In 2006, Hamas won local elections in Gaza then took sole control of it in 2007.

But despite Hamas’ electoral victory, Gaza has been under a strict Israeli blockade, dependent on the Israeli government for electricity, water and telecommunications.

Israel is a small country in the Middle East about the size of the state of New Jersey.

The country has a diverse climate with snowy mountains in the north and the hot desert in the south. Jordan, Syria, and the Palestinian Authority all border Israel to the east. (ai/mnm)