Hong Kong (CNN) The Philippines may be thousands of miles away from the Baghdad airport where top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike, but a major conflict between the United States and Iran could have direct knock-on effects for the Asian nation.

That's because hundreds of thousands of Filipinos work abroad in the Middle East and send billions of dollars home annually in the form of remittances.

The brewing hostilities following President Donald Trump's decision to order a drone strike that killed Soleimani have prompted Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to ask the country's Congress to prepare to evacuate thousands of Filipinos working in Iraq and Iran.

Duterte said he is considering calling a special session of Congress to address the issue of how to help Filipino citizens in the region if conflict were to break out.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gestures during a press conference at Malacanang Palace in Manila on November 19, 2019.