Despite the week-long exchange of missiles between Israel and Iran, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials claimed the Philippine Embassy in Tehran is the only foreign delegation that remains open there amid the escalating conflict.

This was shared by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Robert Ferrer of the Office of Migrant Affairs during the Quezon City media forum on Saturday, June 21, who also said that “Tehran is like a ghost town.”

“So, Ambassador Robert Manalo, he told Usec Ed (Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega) yesterday, all of the embassies in Tehran are closed except for the Philippine embassy. Let's applaud the Philippine government. That is a data and evidence that your government will not give up on you, fellow Filipinos,” he disclosed.

“When Usec Ed asked him, Ambassador Robert Manalo said, ‘Well, this is the foreign service of the Philippines. This is what we signed up for. Unahin muna namin ang mamamayan (Let's give priority to the citizens)’,” the official added.

De Vega, for his part, explained that the embassy in Tehran has about eight personnel since “it's a smaller embassy.”

Normally, embassies have at least 20 personnel, while Philippine embassies in countries that host thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) like Saudi Arabia, would have around 50.

However, the DFA official stressed that “they cannot pull out even one” and can only send their spouses and dependents home “whenever they want, at their expense.”

“They are staying right now at the embassy. Again, this is what we signed up for,” he added.

De Vega also disclosed that there were around nine OFWs from Iran who wanted to be repatriated as the Philippine government raised crisis alert level 3 there due to the ongoing exchange of missiles between Israel and Iran.

“I wish there were more. Around nine maybe. I wish there were more. Let's see,” he stated.

Ferrer, however, refused to reveal details of their flights, as well as the route they will take going out of Iran. “We need to respect the security of information.”

Earlier, De Vega said that most of the 1,180 Filipinos in Iran are residents and married to Iranian nationals.

“A foreign woman married to an Iranian, they consider you an Iranian citizen automatically, whether you register or not, whether you naturalize yourself or take over or not. So they're not worried about it,” he said.

He added that there are also no Filipinos who have been injured in Iran as opposed to Israel because Israelis “know what their target is.”

“They know, very specific. The only casualties in Iran were deliberate,” De Vega furthered.

Filipinos who want to be repatriated from Iran might have to cross the border to Turkmenistan, which is 12 to 13 hours by car away from Tehran.