SYRIA: DFA FACES SNAG REPATRIATING OFWs / DFA: MISSING PINOY IN LYBIA SAFE
[PHOTO - THE SYRIAN UPRISING]
MANILA, AUGUST 25, 2011 (BULLETIN) By ROY C. MABASA and SAMUEL P. MEDENILLA — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is bidding for more time to repatriate Filipinos from Syria, noting that 90 percent of them are undocumented.
"We need more time to take them out considering that majority of them are undocumented," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, who returned to Manila from Syria Sunday night, said in a press briefing late Monday.
Conejos said the repatriation is made more complicated since the undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) refuse to go to the Philippine embassy out of fear of being charged.
As of press time, a total of 190 OFWs, out of an estimated 17,000, have signified their interest to be repatriated from Syria and, Conejos said, negotiations are underway with their respective employers to allow their repatriation to the Philippines.
He disclosed that 58 of the OFWs who are currently sheltered at the Philippine embassy will be given priority.
Conejos said DFA personnel are currently negotiating with the Syrian government the fate of 25 detained OFWs so they may be allowed to be repatriated.
The government has already allotted P140 million for the repatriation of OFWs in Syria.
Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said she has already directed the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to allot the necessary fund for the repatriation.
Filipino missing amid Libyan turmoilBy ROY C. MABASA August 23, 2011, 7:13pm
MANILA, Philippines — Amid the mixed euphoria, confusion, and tension gripping Libya following the apparent fall of the capital Tripoli to rebel forces, a Filipino was confirmed Tuesday to have gone missing after the house he was staying in Tripoli was raided by the rebels Monday morning.
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the Filipino was an employee of a British engineering firm.
Based on a report from the Philippine embassy in Syria, the rebels stormed the house where the Filipino was staying at around 2 a.m. in Tripoli.
After the rebels allegedly ransacked the house, the Filipino could not be located, Hernandez said in a radio interview.
He said they are not disclosing his identity yet "because we have to inform his family first."
"As of the moment, we are trying to exert our efforts to locate the Filipino engineer," he said.
Hernandez also disclosed that rebel forces took several vehicles parked in front of the Philippine embassy in Tripoli on Monday.
Among the cars taken were service vehicles of the Philippine labor attaché and the Overseas Workers' Welfare Administration.
He said vehicles of the United Nations and the World Health Organization were also taken by the rebels.
However, Hernandez said Philippine embassy officials, with the help of the locals in the area, eventually were able to convince the rebels to return the vehicles.
The DFA raised alert level 4 in Libya on Monday as rebels there seized parts of Tripoli, putting the fate of leader Moammar Khadafy hanging in the balance.
Alert Level 4 entails mandatory evacuation and repatriation of Filipino nationals at the Philippine government's expense.
Foreign Affairs Underscretary Rafael Seguis is currently in Libya to convince the remaining Filipinos there -- around 1,600 -- to avail themselves of the repatriation being arranged by the Philippine embassy.
FROM THE PHILSTAR
DFA: Missing Pinoy engineer in Libya, safe (The Philippine Star) Updated August 24, 2011 09:23 AM
(Rebel fighters gesture inside the main Moammar Gadhafi compound in Bab Al-Aziziya in Tripoli, LIbya, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011. Libyan rebels stormed Moammar Gadhafi's main military compound in Tripoli Tuesday after fierce fighting with forces loyal to his regime that rocked the capital as the longtime leader refused to surrender despite the stunning advances by opposition forces. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino engineer in Libya taken by rebels after storming a house has escaped and is now safe, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said today.
DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said that the man, who was reported yesterday as just missing, was taken by the rebels when they left the house.
Hernandez said that he man called his wife in the Philippines on Tuesday to say he was able to escape unharmed and had made his way to a friend's house in Tripoli.
He said Filipinos and other foreign workers of the British-owned First Engineering Company were staying in the house that was ransacked by rebels before dawn Monday.
In another incident, armed men posing as rebels took three vehicles parked in front of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli. They include two embassy cars and one owned by the World Health Organization.
There were no casualties reported.
The DFA has raised the crisis alert level in Libya to 4, declaring a mandatory evacuation and repatriation of all Filipino nationals in the strife-torn country.
The DFA said that the Philippine embassy has advised all Filipinos in Libya to remain indoors and wait for embassy officers to fetch them.
Hernandez had said that at least 90 of the 1,600 Filipinos, most of them medical workers, in Tripoli have expressed willingness to be repatriated.
Meanwhile, report said that hundreds of Libyan rebels stormed Moammar Gadhafi's compound today.
The storming of Bab al-Aziziya, long the nexus of Gadhafi's power, marked the effective collapse of his 42-year-old regime. But with Gadhafi and his powerful sons still unaccounted for — and gunbattles flaring across the nervous city — the fighters cannot declare victory.
Hours after the battle erupted, a pro-Gadhafi TV channel quoted him as saying he retreated from his Tripoli compound in a "tactical move" after 64 NATO airstrikes turned it to rubbles. Al-Rai TV said Wednesday it would air the comments in full and reported an excerpt in which the leader of Libya's unraveling regime vowed his forces would resist "the aggression with all strength" until either victory or death.
The rebel force entered the compound after fighting for five hours with Gadhafi loyalists outside, using mortars, heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. They killed some of those who defended the compound and hauled off thousands of rifles, crates of weapons and trucks with guns mounted on the back in a frenzy of looting.
"We're looking for Gadhafi now. We have to find him now," said Sohaib Nefati, a rebel sitting against a wall with a Kalashnikov rifle. -- with Associated Press
FROM MALAYA
More OFWs opt to stay in Libya BY ANTONIO DELOS REYES
THE Department of Foreign Affairs is doing a 24-hour monitoring of the situation in Libya but said it will continue the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers there in the meantime.
Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said the bulk of the OFWs (around 9,500) in Libya were repatriated last February but there are still some 1,600 who have remained in Tripoli and 700 in Benghazi, mostly health workers employed in hospitals.
Conejos said the Philippine embassy and the DFA rapid response team are constantly in contact with OFWs in Libya. He said 86 health workers have already agreed to be repatriated but more have chosen to stay behind.
President Aquino yesterday instructed the DFA to look at what other assistance could be extended those who have opted to remain in Libya.
Ambassador to Libya Alejandro A. Vicente and Undersecretary Rafael Seguis are currently coordinating with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the repatriation by sea of Filipinos.
The IOM has chartered a ship for the evacuation of all foreign workers in Libya and the group has allocated 400 seats for the Filipino OFWs.
The Philippine embassy reiterated its call to Filipinos to lie low and avoid public places as it is "extremely unsafe" outdoors.
Alert level 4 is still in place in Libya.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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