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Thursday, July 27, 2006
More Filipinos return from Lebanon
* Foreign group offers to finance repatriation of Filipino workers from war-torn Lebanon
TAKING stock of the Philippines' lack of funds to repatriate more than 30,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Lebanon, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has agreed to shoulder the repatriation expenses of some 450 Filipino workers in Beirut.
As this developed, 119 OFWs comprising the third batch of returnees arrived last Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia)-Terminal 2 onboard commercial flights.
Of the number, 37 OFWs from Syria and Lebanon arrived at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday on board Cathay Pacific flight CX-901, while the rest were expected to arrive at 8 p.m. Wednesday night on board Philippine Airlines (PAL( Flight 307.
The Philippine Embassy in Lebanon reported that the IOM has confirmed its assistance in repatriating 450 OFWs from Beirut to Damascus, Syria by bus and then to Manila by a chartered B747 aircraft.
Vincent Houver of the IOM Beirut has written the embassy through Consul General Walter Salmingo stating its intention of bringing the remaining OFWs at the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Church in Sassine, Beirut back to Manila.
"The migration group in Beirut is therefore looking forward to evacuating a first group of 250 OFWs on Saturday, followed by a second batch on Sunday. All associated costs will be covered by the IOM. Individuals will also be provided with temporary accommodation at the IOM shelter in Syria," Houver said in a letter.
Houver then requested the Philippine Embassy to "communicate with the IOM Beirut as regards the details on the identity of individuals requesting assistance, as well as type of travel documentation."
Foreign Affairs Spokesman Gilberto Asuque said the embassy is now organizing the next batch of OFWs to be repatriated from the relocation site at the Miraculous Medal Church to Damascus and then to the Philippines.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) conveyed to the IOM the sincere thanks and appreciation of the Philippine Government for its assistance to OFWs in Lebanon at this difficult time," he said.
Meanwhile, Ambassador to Lebanon and Syria Al Francis Bichara has been reprimanded in connection with his statement in the media that they were running out of funds to fully implement the "Oplan Sagip OFWs sa Lebanon".
"His (Bichara) attention has been called by the DFA. He was told that we can't act on his request for funds because he courses his request through the media. He's an ambassador; he should know how to direct his request to the Office of Fiscal Management. It's just a matter of communicating his request to the proper office," Asuque told reporters in a briefing.
Saying the Bichara's outburst in a television feed is an administrative matter of the DFA, Asuque said any investigations on the matter will have to be shelved in light of government's efforts to repatriate OFWs who are being trapped in Lebanon.
"The priority now is to ensure the safe and expeditious return of OFWs. We will address the matter when the repatriation process is done with. We'd like to assure the public that funds are available," he said, noting the P150 million and the US$500,000 allocation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the program.
The funds are being disbursed through the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), but Asuque said it has to be monitored if the funds are being used judiciously.
Owwa Administrator Marianito Roque supported Asuque saying that there are sufficient funds for the repatriation of OFWs in Lebanon.
He said their problem is not the budget but the unavailability of chartered planes to accommodate all the returning OFWs. "Our repatriation continues and everyday we can expect more OFWs to return home," he said.
The Owwa has allocated a standby fund of P100 million for the repatriation of OFWs aside from the funds released by President Arroyo.
Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, meanwhile, said there are about 600 OFWs who have been repatriated so far since the war erupted between the Israeli soldiers and militant Hezbollah of Lebanon. He assured that the Filipino workers both in Lebanon and Israel are safe amid attacks and counterattacks launched against each other by the two warring parties.
"Based on the reports sent to us by our office in Lebanon, we have no Filipino casualty and that the target areas of the Hezbollah fighters are far from where Filipinos are working. The Israeli soldiers are also doing the same thing," Brion said. (ECV/MSN/Sunnex)
(July 27, 2006 issue)
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