MANILA, 3 August 2006 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday ordered the evacuation of all Filipinos in Lebanon as the Israeli-Hezbollah war threatened to spread.
With the mandatory evacuation order, Philippine labor and foreign affairs officials said they were not activating a mass evacuation plan, which would include the sea route to Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo ordered the Philippine Embassy in Beirut to raise Alert Level 4, which makes evacuation mandatory for all Filipino nationals, over the whole of Lebanon.
The embassy has said there are an estimated 30,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Lebanon, working mostly as maids.
Of the number, about two-thirds are undocumented, which means they entered Lebanon through illegal channels, according to the head of the Philippine welfare office tasked to assist OFWs.
Only 3,000 so far have returned to the Philippines over the past two weeks, most of them from the southern part of Lebanon.
At the start of the war, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it’s mandatory evacuation order covered only those OFWs working in southern Lebanon. OFWs in the capital, Beirut, and elsewhere were told to decide on their own whether to go home.
“We may have some casualties among the Filipinos,” presidential Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday, adding the uncertainty in the conflict in Lebanon was the main reason for Arroyo’s order.
“The president said we should bring our Filipino compatriots out of harm’s way. We should bring them home safely. We want zero-casualty as far as this evacuation operation is concerned.”
Ermita said the recommendation for the mass evacuation came from Task Force Lebanon, which the president had formed earlier and headed by Vice President Noli de Castro.
At least 646 people in Lebanon and 54 Israelis have been killed in the three-week-old war and recent air strikes have shattered a partial lull in Israeli bombing.
Marianito Roque, administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), said the estimated cost of the evacuation effort could reach two billion pesos ($28.5 million).
Instructions
Romulo said he issued the following instructions to the embassy in Beirut:
• conduct a safe and orderly evacuation and repatriation of all Filipinos, giving priority to those in the most critical areas of southern Lebanon;
• establish a system of contacting each Filipino by telephone, cellular phones, text messaging and personal visits to inform them of the arrangements for the mandatory evacuation;
• enlist the assistance of the Red Cross, Red Crescent, churches, and non-government organizations, especially the International Organization for Migration, for the evacuation and repatriation of the Filipinos; and
• use the emergency funds and other financial resources of the embassy and to immediately inform the department of requests for replenishment of the funds, for the prompt action by the department.
Romulo also ordered all diplomatic posts in the Middle East and in countries of possible transit points to be ready to assist in the repatriation of Filipinos from Lebanon by coordinating with airline companies for connecting flights to Manila, transit visas, representation with their Ministries of Foreign Affairs and immigration officials, and other support for the thousands of Filipinos that may pass the international airports in their jurisdiction.
“We will be monitoring the developments in Lebanon as we implement the measures for the safe and orderly return to the Philippines of our nationals. We again call on the Filipinos to join us in prayer for the success of this national effort to bring all our nationals in Lebanon back home safe and sound,” he said.
Critical Part
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said the “most critical part” would be the next two weeks as Israeli forces intensify their attacks against the Hezbollah.
“The maximum effort for evacuation will be in the next two weeks,” Conejos told reporters in Malacañang.
He said the government was firming up an “expanded master plan” on how to go about the evacuation “in an orderly and organized manner.”
“The president is very adamant. She wants this out as soon as possible, we will put up a plan that will execute this as soon as possible,” Conejos said.
Aside from chartered planes, Conejos said the government was also considering the use of ships, which could be hired within the area, for the mass evacuation.
In the next days, Conejos said embassy officials and coordinators were also been instructed to double efforts in reaching out to the Filipinos in Lebanon.
Conejos said the president’s instructions to the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon were to talk to employers of Filipinos and urge them to release the workers. In case of resistance, the workers will be “forcibly” taken out of Lebanon.
Conejos conceded, however, that the government could not force out those who wished to remain in their jobs or with their families. He said Filipinos who would refuse to leave Lebanon would be made to sign a waiver. If Filipinos will be prevented from leaving by their Lebanese employers, embassy officials are instructed to immediately get the assistance of Lebanese police or security officials to implement the release, Conejos said.
“We cannot go around Lebanon with handcuffs and pull them out of those areas,” said a Philippine diplomat, calling on Filipinos who were reluctant to return home to stay out of harm’s way by crossing into Syria, Jordan, Cyprus or Greece.
The priority area for evacuation will be Southern Lebanon, the current site of the conflict, followed by the area between Sidon and Beirut where about 19,000 workers are situated, Conejos said.
So far, the government has flown home about 2,200 Filipinos, most of them from southern Lebanon, including the biggest batch yet of 447 workers who arrived on a flight chartered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) early yesterday.
Some workers were reportedly being prevented by their employers from leaving and at least two OFWs have ended in hospital after getting injured by jumping from the windows of their employers’ apartments.
Most of the Filipinos working in the Lebanon are women hired as domestic helpers.
The 447 Filipino workers, some carrying infants in their arms, smiled as they emerged from the plane with officials lined up applauding them. Some evacuees carried placards that read, “Thank you all rescue groups.” They included Fernanda Reyes, 65, who arrived in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke in Lebanon. Another woman, apparently in shock, kept shouting that men were about to capture her. (Additional input from Inquirer News Service & Agencies)
