DFA: 204 Pinoys now out of Libya, more await next flights

(Updated 11:59 p.m.) The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said that 204 Filipinos have already been taken out of the violence-wracked North African country of Libya and are on their way back to the Philippines. Newly-appointed Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said that of the repatriated Filipinos, 97 who had been working for the OEA Grands Project have already been flown to Paris, France en route to Manila. Twelve other Filipinos from the Benghazi-based Al Nahr Engineering Limited were already being assisted out of Libya by their employer as of posting time. They will soon board British Naval Fleet vessels to be brought back to Manila. Philippine Ambassador to Turkey Pedro Chan meanwhile said that 70 more Filipinos had already been taken out of Libya and are set to arrive in Marmaris, Turkey. From there, their Turkish employers are expected to assist them on their flights back to the Philippines. “Our objective is to do this as quickly as possible. The DFA is fully committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of our beloved Filipinos in Libya," Del Rosario stressed in a statement.
The DFA said that another group of some 300 Filipinos are waiting to be flown out of Libya through their company's plane that can carry 100 passengers per flight. These Filipinos have already been brought to a safer area in Tripoli from Brega, Jalo and the Sahara Desert. The DFA is already making arrangements for ferry ships to take Filipinos from Tripoli to Malta, a Mediterranean island nation north of Libya. Some of the ships will also ferry the Filipinos in Benghazi to Crete in Greece. 1st repatriate from Libya The 13 Filipinos who earlier left Libya finally arrived in Egypt on Wednesday and Thursday, the DFA added. Meanwhile, engineer Benjur Urusugan became the first Filipino worker working in Libya to return to the Philippines since mounting protests by Libyans to overthrow the Muammar Gaddafi regime erupted. Urusugan arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Thursday via Qatar Airways from Tunisia. Currently, there are six officials from the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) assisting Filipinos in Tripoli. Teams have also been deployed to help Filipinos leaving for Egypt and Tunisia. (See sidebar for DFA hotline.) "The Philippine Embassy has activated relocation centers in Tripoli and Benghazi for Filipinos to stay in, unless they feel safe where they are, in which case they should remain there until further notice. Those in the relocation centers will be moved to exit points where they will be transported out of Libya," Del Rosario said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is also assisting the DFA in arranging commercial flights to take the migrant workers out of Libya. There are about 26,000 Filipinos in Libya, according to the DFA. Records from the Philippine Red Cross, however, show there are over 32,000 Filipinos there. 400 OFWs from Caraga stranded in Libya As this developed, relatives of some 400 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from Mindanao’s Caraga region trooped to the regional office of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Butuan City to seek help in calling for their relatives’ repatriation. OWWA-Caraga official Annette Lovete, in charge of the OFW Programs and Services Division, told GMA News Online that of the total 400 OFWs, 99 were working in Libya, 294 in Bahrain and 7 in Yemen. “[These are] the initial official records we have so far gathered and we are awaiting from our Manila office the total numbers of OFWs we deployed [from Caraga region] to Libya, Bahrain and Yemen," Lovete said. Lovete said some relatives of these 400 OFWs have already asked assistance from the OWWA regional office here, saying some of these OFWs are already requesting for repatriation. Lovete added, however, that some Filipino workers have expressed their desire to stay in the three countries despite the growing political violence there, as there are no jobs awaiting them in the Philippines. Lovete said the OFWs from Caraga region deployed in Libya are mostly professionals occupying high-paying positions in different foreign companies stationed in Libya. Twenty-nine-year-old Joannah Bacus, wife of a laboratory engineer working for Doran Consultant Engineering based in Tripoli, Libya, told GMA News Online that her husband Ferdinand is calling on the Philippine government to take him out of Libya. As of posting, Joannah said her husband is still at his work site several kilometers away from the capital city. “Wala pa pong eroplanong kukuha sa kanila. Worried na worried na ang husband ko at mga kasamahan nila na stranded sa kampo," Bacus told OWWA officials. (There’s no airplane yet to pick them up. My husband and his co-workers who are now stranded in the camp are very worried.) She said unidentified Libyan armed men stormed the site where her husband’s camp is located and attempted to enter the camp by repeatedly firing at the gate. Joy Orozco, whose husband Anthony Orozco works as a quality control engineer at Amona Ranhill Consortium in Tajora in Tripoli, Libya, also said her husband is likewise already requesting for repatriation Orozco said her husband has repeatedly asked her by phone to let the government know that they need help getting out of Libya. Sixty-eight-year-old Nazario Estrada and his wife meanwhile traveled some 200 km from Tandag, Surigao del Sur to Butuan City to also seek help for their son Nashville Estrada, a civil engineer for Al Nahr Co. Ltd Manufacturing and Construction. Nazario told OWWA officials that the last time they talked, his son said armed men also tried to enter their camp in Tripoli. Seeking refuge in church The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also said some Filipinos are now seeking refuge in a Catholic Church in Libya amid continued violence there. Franciscan missionary Hermilo Vilason, a chaplain to Filipino migrants in Libya, said only a few vehicles have been plying the streets of Tripoli since Feb. 21. He added they have nowhere to go because only two in the group speak Arabic. But he is optimistic that they will remain safe inside the church. “Besides, nobody since 1971 dared to hurl stones or create any trouble within the church compound," Vilason said in a news report posted on the CPCP site. He said the bishop believes their fate is in God’s hands and would only ask for prayers for their continued safety. Of Libya's 4.5 million residents, some 1.6 percent or roughly 70,000 are Roman Catholics, mostly migrant workers from various Asian countries, the CBCP said. OFWs braving Libya’s streets Meanwhile, in a message sent to GMA News Online, architect Rogelio Santos Jr., a building-site engineer for Hanil Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd. in Al Zawiyah, Libya said he and 43 other OFWs from the same site are braving the dangerous streets in the cities of Sorman and Harsha, to reach the Tunisian border where DFA officials will supposedly meet them. Santos, however, fears that they may be blocked by “anti-Khadafi groups" on their way to the border. “We learned that on our way to that border, there is this last group of Anti-Khadafi groups that may block us and eventually harass [us] and steal all our personal belongings, including our last money in our pockets and our laptops. But what choice do we have if it [would] mean our lives?" Santos wrote. But Santos hopes they will not be harmed on their way to the border, as Friday is a day of prayer in Libya. Crisis hotline Meanwhile, Migrante International, a federation of OFW associations, has likewise set up a crisis hotline for OFWs in the three Middle East countries, where messages can be left and immediately forwarded to the DFA for action. (See sidebar for Migrante hotlines.) Migrante chairperson Garry Martinez said OFWs in various camp sites in Libya have been complaining that they are ready to evacuate but have no idea where to go. “They do not know where to proceed for evacuation, who to contact or what to expect from Philippine authorities, kung susunduin ba sila o may mga sasakyan at eroplano bang naghihintay sa kanila? Hindi ito malinaw [if they will be fetched or if there are vehicles and airplanes waiting for them. These remain unclear]," Martinez said in a statement. He added that due to this lack of information, some OFWs have resorted to braving the dangerous streets to get to terminals and other points of exit. “One contingent of workers, led by Gil Lebria, Migrante coordinator in Libya, opted not to wait anymore to be rescued by Philippine authorities for fear of being caught in the violence and decided to go straight to the airport," Martinez explained. He said the delegation is expected to arrive in Germany in the following days. Migrante added it has documented some 5,900 OFWs all over Libya waiting to be repatriated. Of the 5,900, over 2,500 are in Benghazi, a major city in eastern Libya which was recently taken over by protesters.—With Jerrie M. Abella, Ben Serrano/MRT/JV, GMA News