DFA chief goes to Libya to urge Filipinos to go home to PHL

As the political tension in Libya rises, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario went to the strife-torn country on Tuesday to make a last call to Filipinos there to leave the area and go home to the Philippines. In a news release posted on its website on Wednesday, the DFA said Del Rosario led 31 Filipino workers, including 10 nurses and dependents, out of Tripoli through the Tunisian border. "The group joins 23 repatriates brought out of Libya's capital (Tuesday) by Ambassador Alejandro Vicente, and who are now in Djerba, Tunisia awaiting repatriation," the DFA said. Around 30 more Filipinos, including 19 students in Tripoli, are expected to arrive in Djerba on Thursday, the Philippine government's last scheduled date for voluntary repatriation. Opting to stay in Libya Meanwhile, a large group of leaders met with Del Rosario at the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli and told him that they prefer to stay in Libya. "Karamihan po gustong umuwi, pero mas pinili nilang mag-stay sa Libya kasi wala namang trabahong maabutan sa Pilipinas" (Many want to go home, but they preferred to stay in Libya because there are no job opportunities in the Philippines), one of the Filipino leaders said. Some Filipino workers were reportedly promised an increase in their salary if they choose to stay in Libya. Others were told they would lose entitlement to gratuity pay equivalent to one full month's salary if they do not finish their contracts. "I think we're safe here. Our employer promised to take care of us and told us that if worse comes to worst, we will be housed in the hospital and provided with everything we need for free, on top of salary increase," said one nurse. A nursing professor in a university in Benghazi said they were asked to stay, and would be paid their wages even if there are no classes. "We go to class, eat, wait, and get paid," she admitted. Another admitted she could not readily give up a salary ranging between 4,500 to 6,000 Libyan Dinar, or P160,000 to P200,000. Out of some 2,000 nurses with dependents in Libya, around 1,600 have preferred to stay. Some 800 of these nurses and their dependents are in Tripoli. Over 100 professors have likewise opted to remain in the country, the DFA said. Remittances According to the DFA, some overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are actually more concerned about the difficulty in remitting money to their families in the Philippines rather than the air strikes on different parts of Libya. The DFA said many workers asked how the government could help in sending their remittances. Del Rosario promised the workers that the DFA will devise a mechanism such that the OFWs remittances through the Philippine Embassy. He asked Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, who accompanied him all the way from Japan, Bahrain and Yemen, to remain in Tripoli for a few more days to take care of the repatriates and settle the issue about remittances. – VVP, GMA News