Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom have expressed concern regarding compatriots in Libya who have ignored appeals for evacuation due to the worsening security situation.

“They should heed calls from their families and the Philippine government to evacuate instead of taking chances in Libya,” said Riyadh-based Cenon “Nonie” C. Sagadal Jr., commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal-Central Region Chapter (OKOR-CRC).

He said that they should not take risks by staying in Libya because “life is too precious and that their families would suffer from irreparable loss if something untoward happens to them in the war-torn country.”

“If they go home like the others who have rejoined their families in the Philippines, they could always go back to Libya or work in another country,” he said.

However, R. Rodriguez Eduardo, spare parts manager at the Arab Equipments Est. in Alkhobar, and a community leader, said that those affected by the war have decided to leave.

“They know they could always go back but those who are not affected have decided to stay because they think they could survive the war but not joblessness at home,” he said.

He said that their decision reflects the difficulty of life and getting a good-paying job in the Philippines.

In Buraidah, Qassim, Dionisio B. Tabuco, Jr., an engineer and a Filipino community leader, voiced similar sentiments when he said:

“For them, life is difficult in the Philippines so that they’d rather take their chances by staying in Libya and continue working to ensure that they could send monthly remittances to their families,” he said.

More than 11,000 Filipinos in Libya have ignored appeals to evacuate, according to Charles Jose, spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Jose said that only 200 showed up at the Philippine mission in Tripoli as the government prepared to send a charter ship to ferry them out.