MANILA, 15 May 2003 — Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas urged Filipinos working abroad to take extra caution in their movements as she said that the Philippine government could not do much to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks.

“These are the kinds of things that we cannot foresee. No amount of intelligence can predict terrorist activities,” Sto. Tomas said in an interview amid reports that the number of Filipinos killed in the Riyadh blast had risen to three.

The third Filipino was identified yesterday chief Virgilio Angelo of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) as Serafin Igos Hernandez, about 45, an employee of the Vinnell Arabia Co.

The two others were earlier identified as Rogelio Pababero, 61, of the Al Jadewell Water Treatment Co., and Getulio Templo, 47, an electronics and communications specialist.

Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said 19 other Filipinos were among the 194 injured in the blasts that were widely blamed on the Al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden.

At least 15 other Filipinos living in the American quarters were hurt, but only five remain in hospital. The rest are stable, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

The triple blasts were targeted at three expatriate housing mostly Westerners in Riyadh’s Gharnata district.

Secretary Sto. Tomas said OFWs, particularly those employed by American firms, would just have to be alert and aware of what was happening around them.

“They’re being asked (by the Philippine Embassy) to be alert and vigilant,” she said.

Labor officials also said Filipinos abroad should get updates “every now and then” from the embassy for their own protection.

OWWA’s Angelo said yesterday that employees of American and Arab-American firms living in the bombed quarters had been transferred to a residential site also in Riyadh.

The US Embassy has asked American firms who are targets of terrorist attacks to move their operations and employees to residential areas.

Angelo said that while there was a potential threat of new suicide bombings, reports from Philippine labor and embassy officials in Saudi Arabia had shown that it was “business as usual” in the kingdom.

But OFWs have been asked to register with the Philippine Embassy their exact location, contact numbers, and employers’ names, if these had changed.

“It’s important to tell the embassy people where they are so that if they need help, they can be easily identified and located,” Angelo said.

Angelo said the remains of the three men could “take longer” to repatriate because of difficulties in coordinating with Saudi police.

He said the medico-legal reports required for the transport of the remains to the Philippines would have to be issued by the Saudi police and might even require court proceedings.

“That’s the major issue. It’s the only thing that will cause the delay of the repatriation,” Angelo said in a phone interview.

Angelo also said the families of Pababero, Templo and Hernandez would receive 50,000 pesos in insurance and 20,000 pesos in burial benefits from the OWWA.

Members of the Social Security System will get additional burial benefits. (Input from Inquirer News Service)