The first batch of Filipinos—14 total—to be repatriated from Iraq is already at the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad and will be brought to Doha, Qatar before being flown to Manila today, the Department of National Defense spokesperson said on Saturday.
“This number may increase, however, as the Embassy continues to call on other OFWs who wish to come home,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
There are an estimated 4,000 Filipinos in Iraq, according to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Andolong also said on Dobol B sa News TV, beamed nationwide, that there were logistical concerns, reason why Filipinos to be repatriated from Iraq could not be brought directly to Manila.
He said Special Envoy to the Middle East and concurrent Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu was in Qatar to implement the repatriation of OFWs. Filipinos married to Iraqi nationals are not covered by the repatriation order imposed by the Philippine government in Iraq.
President Rodrigo Duterte clarified that those in Iraq would be forcibly evacuated, “But on those who are married already, whose husbands are Iraqi nationals, we cannot do anything,” he added.
Mandatory repatriation in Iraq is still enforced and the deployment of Filipino workers to the Gulf state remains prohibited, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Thursday.
Alert Level 4, which calls for mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in crisis-stricken areas, was raised in Iraq following the US airstrike in Baghdad that led to the death of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Filipinos working and living in Iran and Lebanon are no longer covered by the mandatory repatriation order after alert levels in the two countries have been downgraded.
On Friday, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles called on Filipinos in Iraq to heed the Philippine government’s desire to repatriate them.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, however, said on Wednesday that the Duterte administration would respect any Filipinos who want to stay in Iraq despite the tensions between the US and Iraq.
Duterte has formed a special working committee that will oversee the evacuation and repatriation of Filipinos from the Middle East.
The panel is chaired by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and vice chaired by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. Members are Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Foreign Affairs
Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.
Duterte said he has been receiving updates from the special working panel.
“I requested Secretary Lorenzana to take stab of what we have, what equipment can be sent immediately, ships and airplane, and of course the provisioning of the evacuate ships to be quartered in the certain place outside of the harms and that would be Iraq and Iran,” he said.
“I (also) sent (retired) General Cimatu, Secretary Cimatu of the DENR. He used to be the special emissary of President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo (to the Middle East). And he has had a vast experience how to handle this kind of situation. He’s there already. He has been communicating with us,” he added.
Around P1.8 billion in government funds have been readied for the repatriation of Filipinos in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, contingency plans on the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers remain in place as the situation in the Middle East is still unstable, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Saturday.
“The situation in the area is still unstable and our contingencies for massive repatriation are still in place,” Lorenzana said in a media statement.
Lorenzana also said the Philippine Coast Guard ship, BRP Gabriela Silang, was in Malta and ready to sail anytime to nearby countries where Filipinos are in danger to ferry them to safer areas.
“We are closely monitoring Kuwait which just raised its security level to maximum on Jan. 9, 2020,” he added.
The DND chief was earlier named chairperson of the special working panel that will oversee the evacuation and possible repatriation of OFWs in the Middle East amid tensions between the United States and Iran.
“The Alert Level within an area covering a 100-km radius from and including Tripoli, Libya was raised to Level 4 (mandatory evacuation). Outside the said 100-km radius, it remains at Alert Level 2,” Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana also advised Filipinos in Iraq and in Tripoli, Libya to contact the nearest Philippine mission to facilitate their mandatory evacuation.