MANILA, 6 August 2006 — At least 465 Filipinos, whose evacuation from Lebanon was stalled by Israeli bombs on Friday, finally reached Damascus in Syria yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque said the evacuees, the third batch to be moved out of the troubled country, were transported to Damascus after getting clearance from the Israeli military, which had bombed a key exit route the day before.
Asuque said flights for the evacuees to Manila were being arranged.
More than 2,600 Filipinos have left Lebanon since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants erupted more than three weeks ago.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Wednesday ordered all of the estimated 30,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, mostly domestic helpers, evacuated because of the deteriorating security situation there.
Asuque said Philippine officials in Damascus confirmed the arrival of the 465 evacuees late last night.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos earlier announced that the convoy started moving yesterday afternoon, Middle East time, after the International Organization for Migration (IOM) made arrangements with Israeli officials for a safe passage.
“We were able to find an alternate route, then got clearance from the Israeli military authorities to take this route,” he said.
The convoy consisted of nine buses carrying 465 Filipinos, the third batch to be flown from Damascus to Manila on a chartered flight arranged by the International Organization for Migration, Conejos said.
A report by Manila’s ABS-CBN television from Beirut said the convoy was using a coastal road that has not been hit by Israeli airstrikes.
Conejos said the Philippines also was considering ferrying Filipinos to Cyprus, Rhodes Island in Greece, Mercin in Turkey, Alexandria in Egypt, and a port in Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
He said Philippine embassy officials and community leaders were “trying to reach out to as many Filipinos as possible” in Lebanon to inform them about Arroyo’s evacuation order.
Senate Inquiry
Meanwhile, members of a group helping distressed Filipinos in Saudi Arabia threw their support behind the Senate labor committee’s inquiry into the state of the OWWA fund to “once and for all put an end to the doubts lingering in our minds.”
“We would like to know the real status of OWWA (the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) as an attachéd agency and trusty of our money,” said Fernando “Ronnie” Abeto, one of the actions officers of the Pusong Mamon Task Force (PMTF).
Abeto, who is based in the western Saudi city of Yanbu, said the perceived refusal of the officials concerned to cooperate in the Senate inquiry is only fueling worries that the OWWA fund has indeed been diverted for other purposes.
Sens. Jinggoy Estrada and Joker Arroyo sought the investigation last week as officials quarreled over the lack of money for use in the evacuation of OFWs in Lebanon.
President Arroyo’s officials, however, refused to attend the committee hearings, prompting Senate President Manuel Villar to subpoena the labor chief and five others, with the threat of ordering their arrest.
Rashid Fabricante, a PMTF action officer based in Riyadh, said the Senate should as well review the “one country team approach” (OCTA) of Philippines’ overseas missions in view of the flaw that has emerged in Lebanon.
“We pray that the current leadership of the Philippine Senate will exert all efforts to look after the welfare and rights of our co-OFWs not only in Lebanon but also those languishing in jails in the Middle East, those in death row, workers who have absconded, and those who remain unrepatriated because of self-inflicted crimes in various jails and detention centers,” Fabricante said in a letter to Villar and other members of the Senate.
In essence, the Saudi-based OFWs are asking for a reassessment of OCTA as provided for in Section 27 of RA 8042 or the Migrant Workers Act.
Section 27 provides that Philippine govern-ment personnel posted abroad should act as a one-country team under the leadership of the ambassador or consul general. The team’s members include officers from various government departments such as the Department of Labor and Employment , the military, commercial and trade attachés and welfare officers.
PMTF leaders noted, however, that the Lebanon crisis has exposed a flaw, in which the OCTA runs in conflict with Section 15 of the same law, which states that the Emergency Repatriation Fund (ERF) should be handled by the OWWA but should be part of the annual budget.
Fabricante, who is assigned to the Filcom Crisis Intervention Group, also requested “an investigation as to why the P100 million emergency repatriation fund provided by RA 8042 was not allocated with the corresponding budget by the present and past Congress.” He also asked senators to look into the goals, objectives and funding of the Middle East Preparedness Contingency Planning team. The PMTF is also pushing for a charter for OWWA that would be similar to the Social Security System (SSS) in terms of transparency, accountability, fund management and delivery of services. (With input from AP)
