MANILA, 15 August 2006 — In a bid to hasten the repatriation of Filipinos in Lebanon, the Philippine government said yesterday it is now seeking help of recruitment agencies concerned both in the country and in Lebanon.

“We have directed the local recruitment agencies to talk with their counterparts in Beirut to get them to try to talk to the employers of OFWs and allow them to come home,” said Undersecretary Esteban Conejos of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Conejos said the deputy administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Ramon Tionloc, is now in Beirut to personally talk with the employment agencies involved.

Conejos said the cooperation the local recruiters would get from the Beirut counterparts would have a bearing on their future applications for licenses in the Philippines.

“When they ask for renewal of their licenses (to operate as recruitment agencies), we will look at how they were able to convince the employers to let their OFWs go home,” Conejos added.

Conejos said special envoy to the Middle East, Roy Cimatu, had taken advantage of the truce and was on his way to the southern city of Tyre in Lebanon to search for and evacuate any Filipinos left there.

“We are not discounting that possibility,” he said, adding that records show about 15 Filipino workers were in Tyre before the start of the conflict last month.

“We remain firm in our resolve to take our remaining workers out of harm’s way and we continue to appeal to the United Nations to help us expedite the evacuation process, especially through the peacekeeping force that would be deployed,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye added in a statement Monday.

The cease-fire, brokered by the UN, took effect at 0500 GMT yesterday (1 p.m. Philippine time, 8 a.m. in Lebanon), silencing the guns of Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants.

About 5,000 so far of the 30,000 Filipinos working in Lebanon, mostly as domestic helpers, have returned home since the government ordered a mandatory evacuation two weeks ago. With two more scheduled flights this week — 450 OFWs arriving today and two other tentative flights tomorrow and on Friday — Conejos said this number would increase to about 6,000.

He said there was a “massive” information drive in Lebanon that seeks to convince OFWs to leave now and overcome “the propensity of our OFWs to hang on as long as they can.”

Conejos explained that the conflict in Lebanon is “a complex issue” and the decision to evacuate despite the cease-fire is based on “data on the ground and history.”

He also said the cease-fire requires the gradual disarmament of Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon within 30 days. “The cease-fire is a fragile thing,” he added.

Teaching Jobs

Meanwhile newly installed Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said teaching jobs awaited OFWs with college degrees displaced by the fighting in Lebanon.

Lapus’ offer came as he announced the need for about 10,000 teachers, which he said, could be readily filled in by qualified OFWs.

“If they carry the right majors like English, Science and Math, they can apply,” Lapus said.

He explained that the ideal ratio of a teacher-student per classroom is 1:25.

But the prevailing situation of a serious lack of teachers places the ratio at 1:40 and could even go as far as 1:80 in far-flung areas.

“They (OFWs) can fill up the opening for the new teaching positions,” Lapus said.