This represents a fraction of the estimated 6,569 Filipinos, including about 600 students, have registered their presence in Egypt with the Philippines government.

Malaya told GMA Network's DZBB radio that 20 more Filipinos have expressed their desire to leave.

“A mandatory repatriation is not yet seen as necessary,” he said.

Gimbang Ambor, a Filipino student works at the US Embassy in Cairo, said on his Facebook profile that many expatriates working or studying in Egypt have expressed optimism about the current unrest. He also said four members of a Filipino family backed out of their initial desire to evacuate and three others took their place on the Saturday flight.

“We are still hopeful that within the month everything will back to normal,” he wrote.

Some commented on Ambor's Facebook profile that they doubted that the Philippines Embassy in Cairo would be able to handle the logistics of evacuating all Filipino residents in Egypt if they all wanted to leave.

“Right now we have fellow Kabayan families sleeping and living under the bridge in Saudi Arabia,” said one commenter, referring to the Sitteen Bridge in Jeddah where a lot of Asian foreign workers who have fled their sponsors for various reasons camp out waiting to be detained and deported. “If they cannot solve the problems of these people in a non-troubled and rich country, how much more (could they do for Filipinos) in other countries?”

Malaya reassured the Filipino community in Egypt in his radio interview that the Philippine Embassy has enough resources and manpower to repatriate anyone who wants to leave.

Arab News spoke to Filipinos studying in Cairo on Saturday who said they weren't worried for their safety.

“Right now Egyptian people are still welcoming,” said Amroden Sultan, former president of the Philippine Student Association in Cairo (PHILSAC) by telephone from Cairo. Other than a brief period of time when food was being rationed, Sultan said Filipinos students are carrying on normally despite the massive demonstrations and clashes occurring in downtown Cairo.

They have been advised to be more vigilant and to avoid the areas where the demonstrations are taking place, he added.