The Philippine government is not raising the alert level in Lebanon anytime soon but its embassy in Beirut continues to operate as if mass repatriation is about to be placed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Saturday.
At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, DFA Undersecretary for Migration Eduardo Jose De Vega said no Filipino has been hurt so far in the series of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and that most “are still adamant” about staying in the country.
“Since hostilities in Israel and Gaza began in October, we already were calling on them to go home voluntarily. So, far only around 500 returned,” he said.
For Filipinos unable to leave because their employers refuse to release their passports, De Vega urged them to seek immediate assistance from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.
“This is a phenomenon that happens not just in Lebanon, pero kung saan-saan (but everywhere). What we can do, kung walang (if they don’t have a) passport, we can always issue travel documents for them to go home,” he said.
“It will be complicated to get the exit clearance if ayaw i-release ng employer (ang passport) but puwede pang ilaban (but we can always appeal if the employers don’t want to release their passports) and we could use our assistance-to-national fund or the DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) can use their own funds to pay for penalties.”
Alert Level 4 or mandatory evacuation is only declared in case of a large-scale internal conflict or if the host country has suffered a full-blown external attack.
On top of this, Foreign Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary for Middle East Office Marlo Miranda said, the department is also considering the Filipinos opposed to the elevation of alert level.
“There’s another camp of OFWs who don’t want the Alert Level 4 to be raised because that would eventually mean hindi na sila makakabalik sa Lebanon kapag nagpa-repatriate sila (that they can no longer return to Lebanon if they get repatriated),” MIranda said.
“The lesser of two evils would be mag-o-operate tayo ng Alert Level 4 pero Alert Level 3 pa rin (to operate as if we are on Alert Level 4 while still under Alert Level 3).”
De Vega noted that of the estimated 11,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, about 90 percent are against mandatory repatriation.
Meanwhile, he updated the number of Filipinos based in southern Lebanon from 196 to 272 but said none of them are in the border or areas being targeted by Israel.
Of the estimated 1,000 waiting to return home, 127 will join four repatriation flights scheduled from Oct. 11 to 28, De Vega said.
In the same forum, he reiterated the Philippines’ call on concerned parties to work towards the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
“Under the principles of international humanitarian law, we don’t want innocent civilians hurt. The region has to be stable and also because there are over two million Filipinos in the region,” he said.
