Manila, March 17 -- The Philippine government has stepped up its repatriation efforts for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the Middle East crisis, with six scheduled flights arriving Tuesday.

At a media briefing in Mandaluyong City, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Patricia Yvonne Caunan said these six flights carry 75 government-assisted OFWs.

"Today, we have six commercial flights coming in; some have already landed on different government-purchased repatriation tickets for our workers," Caunan said.

"And so, we are expecting arrivals from yung ating mga kababayan na tulong-tulong natin tinawid mula Bahrain papuntang Saudi Arabia. Meron din po tayo na ini-expect na dumating na first batch mula sa Kuwai...