Acting Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario left on Friday to visit Japan, Bahrain and Yemen to assess the situation in those three countries in crisis. Del Rosario flew to Japan at 7:45 a.m. on Friday, accompanied by:
DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis; DFA Undersecretary Jose Brillantes, and DFA Executive Director for Asia Pacific Affairs Maynard Montealegre. According to sources at the DFA, Del Rosario and Seguis will leave Japan at 10:00 p.m. on Friday and to proceed to Bahrain, where they are expected to arrive at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday. After Bahrain, Del Rosario and Seguis will fly to Yemen where they are expected to arrive on Sunday at 2:45 am via Gulf Air. Del Rosario will return to Manila on March 23. DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya told the media that Del Rosario went to Japan to see for himself if the country’s contingency plan working well. Del Rosario will also determine if there is a need to raise the alert level in that country. As of now, the alert level in Japan is "2," meaning that the Philippine government is urging Filipinos there to restrict their movements and voluntarily leave the country if possible. The alert level was set at 2 after Japan suffered a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11. However, Malaya noted that another cause for concern in Japan are the dangerous levels of radiation from a nuclear plant in Fukushima that was damaged during the earthquake. “Our Secretary is deeply concerned for the safety of Filipinos in Japan especially those in Fukushima," Malaya told reporters. Filipinos in the 20-kilometer radius of Dai-ichi plant were already asked to evacuate while those within the 21-to 30-kilometer radius of the plant to stay indoors. There are an estimated 4,600 Filipinos in the prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Ibaraki. However, not all have been accounted for by the Philippine Embassy a week after the disaster. Tension in Bahrain Meanwhile, some 31,000 Filipinos are expected to be affected once the tension in Bahrain escalates into a full-blown conflict. Martial law was declared in Bahrain on March 15 to quell violent anti-government protests. However, Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa assured that the Philippines and four other countries with significant worker populations — India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand — about the safety of their nationals. Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain Corazon Yap-Bahjin said the Prime Minister assured them that the Bahraini government respects the rights of foreigners and will protect them from harm. No Filipino was been reported injured or killed in the series of military crackdown on protesters. Bahrain has been suffering from weeks of violent anti-government protests, calling for the ouster of the Sunni dynasty that has been in power for more than two centuries. Yap-Bahjin said the Philippine embassy in Bahrain has been operating on a 24-hour basis since hostilities broke out. The Bahraini government has imposed a 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. curfew in areas where protests have been held, but later on shortened it to 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. Situation in Yemen Meanwhile, in Yemen Del Rosario will also check on the condition of some 2,000 Filipinos. Last week, the Philippine government asked Filipinos in Yemen to leave that country on their own because of the political tension in that country. – VVP, GMA News 
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