[PHOTO AT LEFT - THE PHILIPPINE AIRFORCE C-130]
CLARK FREEPORT, DECEMBER 1, 2010 (STAR) By Ding Cervantes – The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has readied its only operational C-130 cargo plane for possible repatriation of Filipino workers from South Korea.
PAF spokesman Lt. Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol said the crew of the cargo plane had been ordered to await instructions to fly and evacuate Filipino workers in South Korea amid escalating tension on the peninsula.
Okol said about 100 people could be accommodated in the cargo plane that can fly two trips a day to and from South Korea. Estimates, however, have placed the number of Filipinos legitimately working in South Korea at about 48,000.
"It's not only the PAF, but also the other branches of the military that could be used to evacuate Filipinos there," Okol said.
Okol said that it would take about nine and a half hours to fly to South Korea and return to the country with the repatriates.
He said the cargo plane would be flying from the PAF base in Mactan, Cebu.
"There might be a need to refuel in Busan in South Korea if the aircraft flies directly from Cebu, but there would be no need for refueling if it flies from Laoag in the Ilocos where we have aviation facilities," he said.
Okol said they are preparing for the eventually that the tensions in South Korea would force the repatriation of Filipinos there.
He said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) would coordinate efforts to repatriate the Filipino workers with the use of military assets.
Okol said the DFA would coordinate with other foreign governments whose territories would be involved in the repatriation operations.
"For example, we might need to pass over Japan so we would need an air space clearance from the Japanese government," he explained.
Although the C-130 consumes about P337,000 worth of fuel per hour, Okol said the economic costs for repatriation would be "nothing compared to the safety of Filipinos we would be flying back home."
Preparations are being made to evacuate Filipinos amid tensions in the region after North Korea unleashed an artillery barrage on a South Korean island that killed four people last week. North Korea also warned that joint US-South Korean naval drills this week had pushed the peninsula to the "brink of war."
The Philippine government has imposed a temporary suspension of deployment of Filipino workers to South Korea following the incident.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said it would depend on the situation on whether the suspension would be extended.
Baldoz said they would await the recommendation of Special Envoy Roy Cimatu before coming out with a decision to restrict the deployment of Filipino workers in the region.
"Ambassador Cimatu is now in Korea and will be back by Dec. 4 to submit his assessment report. So we still have a week to work on it," Baldoz said.
Baldoz clarified the government has not imposed a ban on deployment of Filipino workers to South Korea but merely deferred the flight of 55 workers who were supposed to leave yesterday.
"Contract processing of workers to Korea is continuing so there is really no deployment ban," Baldoz pointed out.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), on the other hand, said over a hundred more Filipino workers are still awaiting word on whether they would be allowed to fly to South Korea.
The POEA said another batch of 105 Filipino workers are scheduled to leave for Korea next week, but may be asked to reschedule their flight to a later date due to prevailing tensions in the Korean peninsula.
POEA chief Jennifer Manalili said a thousand Filipino workers are scheduled to leave for South Korea from December to January under a government-to-government hiring program.
Manalili though clarified the government is not discouraging workers from seeking employment in South Korea because the companies there provide high wages and good working conditions to their workers.
Grave concerns
Sen. Loren Legarda, for her part, expressed grave concern over the rising tension in the Korean peninsula.
Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, called on the government to follow the United Nation's mission of peace and reconciliation in Korea.
As one of the 12 countries currently accredited as UN Command (UNC) member nations, Legarda said the Philippines remains committed to helping achieve a political and lasting settlement of the challenges facing North and South Korea.
"This responsibility emanates not just from our membership in the United Nations, but from a law that provides for the continued assignment of Philippine personnel to the UN Command Liaison Staff in South Korea," she said.
Legarda noted the Philippines is among 16 nations under the UN that sent troops for combat during the Korean War.
"The presence of more than 50,000 Filipinos in South Korea underscores the need to find a permanent solution to the problems facing the Korean peninsula," Legarda said.
"We do not have winners in wars, only losers. And those who suffer the most are the civilians," she said.
With the possibility of war breaking out in the Korean peninsula, Filipinos there are heavily depending on electronic media in communicating with their loved ones back home.
Some of the Filipinos staying in Seoul said the Philippine embassy has advised them that in case of war, they have to immediately move to Hyehwa-Dong Catholic Church for possible transport to Busan and repatriation to the Philippines.
However, transport buses remain a concern for Filipinos in Seoul, though there is a train station meters away from the Catholic Church which will take them to Busan, a city some 400 kilometers south of Seoul.
"We are dependent on texting and social media here for information and update on the Korean crisis," said Anselmo Balabo, a pastor studying at the Methodist Theological University in Seoul.
Balabo said the Filipino community in Seoul is keeping enough load on their cellular phones to keep in touch in case of emergency.
Balabo though lamented that emergency messages and evacuation procedures in Seoul were written in the Korean language, which no Filipino and other foreigners could comprehend.
This was the problem, said Maragtas Amante, a professor of the Hanyang University, in his message posted on his Facebook account.
"The emergency signal systems are done in Korean, with no English translation. This major gap emerged among Filipinos who discussed emergency and evacuation plans with the possible escalation of the Korean conflict. "Among themselves, leaders of the Filipino community started to discuss and share important information on disaster preparedness, to supplement evacuation plans of the government," Amante said. –With Christina Mendez, Dino Balabo, Mayen Jaymalin
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