Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo First District Representative Janette Garin said the government may use the contingency funds to assist the Filipinos in Israel after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an attack last Saturday.

“Contingent fund may be used for their repatriation and generate jobs for affected Filipinos. The government must come up with economic plans to cushion their abrupt termination of work,” the House Appropriations Committee vice chairperson said on Monday, adding that contingency funds are necessary for emergency situations.

The lawmaker also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to secure the safety of the Filipinos in Israel, stressing that it must be the government’s primary concern.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) earlier stated that it is “closely monitoring” the circumstances of 24,807 Filipinos in Israel.

OWWA Administrator Arnelle Igancio said that 200 Filipino employees are based in the Gaza Strip, which is under attack by the Hamas militant group.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said that DMW has opened a hotline and several Viber and WhatsApp hotline numbers that will accept calls and queries from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and the Filipino community needing government assistance.

“With wars like this, even if far from our country, outbreaks and epidemics are expected to spread globally. Remember the war in Syria and Lebanon and conflict in Pakistan, measles and polio spread to the Phils. Outbreaks of norovirus and rotavirus also happened leading to outbreaks of diarrhea,” she said.

“Interruption of clean water, hygiene, congestion creates a Petri dish for various outbreaks can spread globally. Our main defense is to have herd immunity via a high vaccination coverage,” Garin added.