MANILA, Philippines—Thirteen Filipinos have crossed to the Egyptian border from troubled Libya while one has returned to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
After Engineer Judith Tuvera fled Libya’s Tobruk to Alexandria with her employer last Wednesday, a group of 12 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) crossed to the Egyptian border from the North African nation, the DFA reported.
The Filipinos were engineers and managers from Korean construction firm Won Company evacuated by their employer via land from Tobruk in Libya to Asalum in Egypt.
They are Engel Basa, Ruel Ascaño, Reynan Maranan, Joel Almeda, Joseph Dapitan, Joe Salas, Alex Villalobos, Michael John Noble, Elmer Legaspi, Frankie Saludaga, Jarie dela Cruz and Mark Sabay. The 12 will proceed to Cairo and will fly to Manila over the weekend.
The fleeing Filipinos Consul General Renato Duenas, Jr. and a team from the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, which are in place at the border, and has set up a command post to assist nationals exiting from Benghazi, Al Baida and nearby areas in Egypt’s northeast region.
The first repatriate from Libya, Tuguegarao native Engineer Benjur Urusugan, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Thursday afternoon, the DFA said.
Earlier, the DFA said that Filipinos whose companies have repatriation plans are encouraged to join the effort.
The DFA said that the six-man team from the DFA in Manila led by DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Executive Director Ricardo Endaya have arrived in Tripoli to beef up embassy personnel and assist Filipinos who want to return home.
The Tunisian government has approved landing rights for aircraft chartered to fly out Filipinos and visa upon arrival, as well as setting up of a satellite office at the airport to assist OFWs who will be flying out from there.
Together with the Filipino community coordinators, the team from the DFA and the embassy will reach out to the Filipinos and move them to safe relocation sites in Tripoli, Benghazi and Al Baida. The embassy has relocation sites in Tripoli and Benghazi for the Filipinos—the Philippine School and the St. Francis Catholic Church in Tripoli and the two Philippine Schools in Benghazi.
The repatriates from Tripoli will proceed to Tunis in Tunisia while those from Benghazi and Al Baida will proceed to Alexandria in Egypt by land. From there, they will catch flights to Manila.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is assisting the DFA in arranging commercial flights and ensuring that OFWs are included in any IOM-sponsored evacuation.
The DFA has released an initial amount of US$150,000 to the embassy, while DoLE has committed P25 million to assist in the repatriation efforts. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will release P100 million for the same purpose.
The DFA-OUMWA is also receiving families of OFWs in its office, briefing them about the government’s repatriation plans and assuring them that the DFA and the embassy are doing its best to locate their relatives and get them out of harm’s way.
The DFA has a 24-hour hotline number for families of Filipinos based in Libya. The hotline number is 02-834-4580.
source: inquirer
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