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Monday, July 24, 2006
292 Pinoy workers from Lebanon arrive home
MANILA -- Amid the downpour brought on by typhoon "Glenda" Sunday, 229 Filipinos who escaped from the brewing crisis in southern Lebanon finally arrived in the country.
Among the returnees, three women with infants in tow were the first to emerge from the Jordan Aviation JAV 3911 after it rolled to a stop outside a hangar at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City at 2:45 p.m. Sunday.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, some Cabinet officials, and families and relatives met with the repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) at the Presidential lounge inside the military compound.
The OFWs, composed mostly of women who worked as domestic helpers in Lebanon, showed signs of relief as they finally disembarked from the plane.
Marivic Boras, one of the Filipino workers, cried upon landing, claiming she was so happy to be back in the country. She said she and other OFWs were so scared of the bombings and air strikes and opted to return.
Cristine Andaya, who arrived with her two-month-old son Gabriel, said some of the OFWs were having problems evacuating after their employers refused to let them leave.
The first batch of Filipinos airlifted from Damascus in Syria had been waiting for a government provided plane since Thursday. They were the first to evacuate from the southern region of Lebanon, where Israel has started to penetrate and target suspected Hezbollah hideouts.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) originally announced on Friday that they chartered a commercial airplane from Emirates Air to ferry the first batch of Filipinos. But due to a technical problem, the flight never pushed through and the Filipino workers were only able to board a flight home at 9 p.m. Saturday (Damascus time).
The DFA explained that aside from difficulties chartering a flight, the government had to coordinate permits for the chartered flight to be allowed to cross five countries.
The Air Jordan chartered flight was originally scheduled to arrive at 2:30 p.m. Sunday but was delayed for another 30 minutes.
The return of the first batch of Filipino migrants in Lebanon came following the recommendation of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Team led by Ambassador Roy Cimatu to raise the contingency alert level to 4 in southern Lebanon, which was the center of a ground offensive by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
This means that all Filipinos based in southern Lebanon would be forcibly evacuated to safer grounds with the continuing air strikes against Hezbollah forces taking refuge in the south and after Israeli forces entered Lebanon to establish a buffer zone.
Records of the DFA show there are about 2,000 Filipinos in southern Lebanon, particularly in Sidon.
The rest of Lebanon remained at alert level 3, which entails only the mere relocation of Filipinos to designated transit spots until a repatriation process is undertaken.
Cimatu and charge d'affaires to Lebanon Walter Salmingo are organizing the evacuation of OFWs from southern Lebanon and preparing for the repatriation to the Philippines of the next group. The team is also finalizing the arrangement for the chartered flight.
The airliner took the Filipino workers from Damascus, the capital of Syria -- the staging point of their return home, after fleeing Beirut in buses Thursday and Friday. The OFWs were transported from the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Church in Sassine, Beirut via five buses and reached Damascus after eight hours of land travel.
Upon reaching Damascus, OFWs boarded a Philippine-chartered Emirates airline that directly flew them back to Manila.
The first batch of 190 OFWs left the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church on Thursday aboard five tourist buses bound for Damascus, Syria. They stayed in the Living Saint Elias Monastery in Damascus prior to the flight to Manila.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Special Concerns Rafael Seguis, Ambassador to Lebanon Al Francis Bichara (who has concurrent jurisdiction in Syria), and Consul in Syria Fadi Debahy met with the first batch of returnees at the Lebanon-Syria border to facilitate their immigration requirements.
Seguis and Debahy accompanied OFWs from the Syrian border checkpoint to the monastery for temporary lodging while Bichara proceeded to Beirut.
The second batch of 107 OFWs left Beirut on Friday at 9 a.m. in Syria (4 a.m. Friday in Manila) to catch up with the first batch already in Damascus. The chartered Jordan Aviation JAV plane the following day took off from the Damascus International Airport with 292 Filipinos, including three infants.
As the plane could only carry a maximum of 300 passengers, 65 OFWs were left behind in Damascus as Seguis and Debahy made separate arrangements for their flight to Manila after technical stops in Karachi, Pakistan, and in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said government will spare no cost in ensuring the safety of trapped Filipinos in Lebanon so that they can be repatriated to the Philippines.
Romulo said: "If more OFWs wish to be repatriated home, they will be repatriated. President Arroyo has pledged that we will exhaust all available means to ensure the safety of our people in Lebanon."
He said the President has released P150 million in funds to cover the cost of transport, supplies, and communication associated with repatriating OFWs from Lebanon. The President, likewise, ordered all diplomatic posts to ensure that all possible assistance is given to OFWs in the crisis zone who are seeking shelter or evacuation.
However, Romulo said those Filipinos who wished to stay in Lebanon may do so, but he gave assurance that government is working on finding them temporary shelter, away from the most dangerous areas.
President Arroyo said she expects a second and third batch of OFWs to return in the country by Monday and Tuesday.
She said the Bahrain Government had committed to help provide transportation for the returning OFWs.
She added that the Philippine Government has joined the international community in working for the restoration of peace between Lebanon and Israel.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the crisis team led by Cimatu continues to search and verify information on the whereabouts of all Filipinos in Lebanon to "evacuate them to safer grounds and assist in their repatriation."
"The interest and safety of our workers in a foreign land and our value for human life are paramount. We hope for the early resolution of the conflict to spare the lives of countless non-combatants," he added. (DMB/ECV/JMR/Sunnex)
(July 24, 2006 issue)
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