Pangasinan 3rd district Rep. Maria Rachel Arenas and AGIMAT Party-list Rep. Bryan Revilla will back proposals for the passage of a supplemental budget, in case the government needs additional resources to bring home Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) affected by the raging war in the Middle East.

Arenas and Revilla are the chairpersons of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, respectively.

"If kinakailangan po ‘yung supplemental budget (If the supplemental budget is needed), this institution will support that,” Arenas said in a chance interview Thursday, March 12 at the House of Representatives.

She said that Revilla--with whom she co-chaired on Wednesday a joint House briefing on the Middle East situation--would also support a potential supplemental budget.

"We will support and assist. So hindi lang po sa polisiya (So this isn't solely about policy), if they need additional funds, ay susuporta po ‘yung House of Representatives (The House of Representatives will support it),” Arenas added.

Revilla, in separate online interview Thursday, says that while the House is willing to support a supplemental budget, he does not relish the scenario that will necessitate such fund augmentation.

“Yes po. Kailangan po natin ‘yan (supplemental budget) pagkadating po, sana ‘wag naman pong mas lalo pang uminit ang tensyon diyan sa Gitnang Silangan. Kapag uminit pa ho ang tensyon napakarami pong OFWs na kailangan nating pauwiin,” he said.

(Yes. We need that supplemental budget when that eventually comes, but hopefully tensions in the Middle East won’t escalate further. If they do, there will be a great number of OFWs we’ll have to bring home.)

There are an estimated 2.4 million OFWs in the Middle East, a major oil producer.

The party-list lawmaker also disclosed that thousands of Filipinos in Kuwait alone have already sought help. “So far, nag-request ng over mga 4,357 ang nag-request ng assistance, 2,690 ang nag-request ng repatriation (So far, about 4,357 have requested assistance, and 2,690 have requested repatriation). This is just for Kuwait."

Revilla bared that as of Thursday, government agencies still had funds for evacuation and emergency response.

“Yung emergency repatriation fund po ang remaining po ngayon ay nasa P1.4 billion, ang utilization rate po nila ay nasa P8 million (There's still P1.4 billion remaining in the emergency repatriation fund, with the utilization rate pegged at P8 million),” he said.

For her part, Arenas said: “We will go by the guiding principle of the President na (that is) safety first.”

“And hindi ho kami mag-aantubili na sumuporta sa mga pangangailangan ho ng ating departments (And we will not hesitate to support the needs of our departments), to make sure that every Filipino is safe and protected,” she added.

The Pangasinan solon said Congress will also continue monitoring the situation as part of its oversight functions.

According to Arenas, Philippine embassies in the region even joined Wednesday's congressional hearing online to provide updates despite security risks.

“Minsan ‘yung iba nating embahada ay kailangan pumunta sa mga safe shelters pero nandyan pa rin sila para po ipaalam sa atin kung anong sitwasyon nila (Sometimes our embassies need to go to safe shelters, but they still remain there to inform us of their situation),” she said.

Arenas also assured Filipinos in the region that the government was closely monitoring developments.

“Nandito ho kami, hindi ho kayo nag-iisa. Alam ho namin ‘yung mga pangamba ninyo (We are here, you are not alone. We are aware of your concerns),” she said.