Gaddafi rep: OFWs may now go back to Libya

Now is the right time for Filipino workers to return to Libya after they had fled the country earlier this month due to political tensions, according to a visiting Libyan official. Libya is peaceful and violence is only confined to rebel-dominated areas, Abdulhadi Lahweej, Libya’s undersecretary for expatriates, immigrants and refugee affairs, told a press conference in Manila Monday. Still, Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said the government is maintaining its policy not to deploy workers to Libya. Some 14,000 Filipinos were evacuated from the country in March, shortly after the rebellion began in mid-February. North Atlantic Treaty Organization air strikes have hit Tripoli and other targets in the five-month operation to implement a no-fly zone and guard civilians. However, there is a facade of normalcy in the capital as shops are open and residents go about usual daily routines. The Philippines is one of the nations that still recognize Muammar Gaddafi’s administration. “We continue to recognize the Libyan government as manifested by the presence of our embassy in Tripoli, which continues to serve over 2,000 of our overseas Filipino workers who remain in Libya," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said. Lahweej said Libya has guaranteed protection of Filipino workers, who are mostly employed as medical workers. “We are taking care of them," he said. He even described Filipino workers as “very kind and respectful," he said. About 10 percent of the Philippines’ population of 94 million people work abroad. They remit billions of dollars to the country. Lahweej said he is visiting various countries to enlighten people about the “true story of the Libyan rebellion." The Philippines was Lahweej’s first stop in his Asian tour. Libya is not seeking support from the countries Lahweej is visiting, he said, adding that worsening political and economic conditions in the country should be blamed at the Al-Qaeda-backed rebels, who are seeking an end to Gaddafi regime. “It’s a rebellion, an armed rebellion by criminal groups," Lahweej said. “They are seeking for oil." Libya has been wracked by months of violent protests as pro-democracy fighters demand Gaddafi to end his more than four-decade-old rule. — JE, GMA News