Priest slams slow Libya evacuation

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has imposed an internal deadline to relocate and repatriate the remaining overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in critical areas in Libya by today.

During a briefing in Malacañang on Friday, acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said that the government would make sure that no Filipino will be left behind in the strife-torn North African country.

“We would certainly not leave anyone behind. It’s something that we will make sure does not happen,” he added.

Del Rosario said that they had set a deadline to relocate and repatriate those Filipinos who have expressed willingness to leave Libya, and that they are giving priority to those in critical areas.

“We have placed a deadline for ourselves to be able to relocate and repatriate those who are willing to be relocated and repatriated and giving priority to those areas which we think are critical,” he added.

According to the Foreign Affairs department, the Philippine government-chartered ship, MV Ionian Queen, is on its way to Tripoli to fetch the Filipinos there.

The ship is expected to arrive in Tripoli today.

Del Rosario said that the ship was supposed to arrive on Friday but was delayed because they heard that there would be demonstrations in Tripoli.

He added that there are 750 Filipinos waiting in the Libyan to board the ship, which has a capacity of 1,700.

Del Rosario said that the government has sought assistance from other countries but added, “We’ve not been able to avail of much assistance.”

According to him, Manila is getting some help from the International Organization for Migrants in helping book the flights of Filipinos supposedly abandoned by their employers.

“We have 212 [Filipinos] who are in Cairo, who are looking for flights and they will be helping them advancing their fare and then putting them on flights, and then we will reimburse them,” del Rosario said.

There was one Filipino casualty in Libya, a case that del Rosario said had “nothing to do with relocation and repatriation.”

According to the department, there are 11,045 Filipinos who have exited Libya, with at least 1,971 making it back to Manila.
About 26,000 OFWs worked in Libya before the crisis.

There are six-combined DFA-Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) teams that continue to assist Filipinos in Tripoli and at various crossing and entry points of Djerba, the Libyan-Tunisian border, Al Sallum in Egypt, Crete and Malta.

Church disappointed

A Catholic priest said that the Aquino administration was taking kits sweet in bringing home Filipinos from Libya.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News, citing reports relayed to them by their priests in Libya, quoted Manila-based Father Pete Montellana as saying that the situation there was getting worse, causing fright among the remaining OFWs in the strife-torn country.

He added that the Philippine Embassy in Libya cannot provide necessary assistance to the OFWs trapped in the troubled country.

“Based on the information we received from our Franciscans [based in Libya], it appeared that the assistance rendered by the government was slow. It was really slow,” Montellana said over Church-run Radyo Veritas.

The Order of Friar Minors has been providing support to Filipinos in Libya for the last 17 years.

“They [government] should make if faster. We, in the Franciscan community, are urging them to speed up the giving of assistance to the OFWs,” Montellana said.

The priest added that while bringing Filipinos out from Libya has been difficult, especially those supposedly left in the desert by their employers, more efforts should be exerted by the government.
Montellana said that most of the OFWs live in Tripoli.

“If I am not mistaken, there are about 9,000 OFWs in Tripoli. There are also thousands of Filipinos in Benghazi,” he added.

The priest also expressed concern that the situation in Libya could get worse if the government of Muammar Qadaffi will arm civilians.

One of the priests in the area also reported that Filipinos trapped in the crisis there are experiencing food shortages.

“Those [Filipinos] who are staying in the desert were forced to leave the area because of scarcity in food,” Montellana said.

“In fact, they said that the OFWs in Tripoli limited their food consumption and eating only one meal a day,” he added.

New arrivals

Montellana’s concern on the slow repatriation of Filipinos from Libya seemed to be echoed by the arrival of only 23 OFWs from the strife-torn country at about 5 a.m. of Friday on board a Qatar Airways flight.

The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said that this was the 48th batch of OFWs evacuated from Libya.

The agency added that the repatriated Filipinos who need temporary accommodations prior to their heading home to the provinces will be offered to stay at the agency’s Halfway House in Pasay City.

The Labor department will also provide stress debriefing and orientation and livelihood assistance package for the repatriated OFWs.

OWWA said that relatives who need assistance in locating or getting in touch with their loved ones in Bahrain, Libya or Yemen may contact the 24/7 OWWA operations center.

The center’s contact numbers are: 632-33-6992 (or 833-OWWA), 632-551-6641 and 632-551-1560. Mobile phone number for text messages is 0917-898-6992 (0917-TXT-OWWA).

DOLE also on Friday said that it will give priority to the hiring of Filipinos returning from Libya.

“During a meeting with licensed recruitment agencies [LRAs] last week, agencies which hired and sent OFWs to Libya have assured us that they will give precedence to OFWs repatriated from Libya for jobs in other countries,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

She added that the National Reintegration Center for OFWs will also provide the necessary assistance to affected OFWs who may apply for local jobs or venture into livelihood or business undertakings.

The Labor chief pointed out that the “no placement fee” policy of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency will be strictly observed in the recruitment of household service workers.

She said that any violation of this policy shall be a ground for revocation of the license of a recruitment agency.

Extensive assessment will be conducted in all recruitment agencies to check any form of irregularity or non-compliance with that requirement.

Unrest continues

In Libya, pro-government forces carried out an air strike on the edge of the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya also on Friday, as opponents of Qaddafi called for fresh protests in Tripoli.

US President Barack Obama said that all options were on the table for driving Qaddafi out of power as the strongman’s son said that air strikes on rebel-held positions were scare tactics rather than moves to inflict serious damage.

Despite grave reservations expressed by the US military command, Obama said that a no-fly zone was among the “full range” of options, as he demanded that Qaddafi “step down from power and leave.”

Forces still loyal to the veteran strongman, who has ruled the oil-rich North African state for 41 years, have been bombing rebel-held positions in Libya’s east and thousands of people are desperate to flee the country.

The latest air strike, early Friday, targeted a military base on the edge Ajdabiya, a strategic crossroad, but caused no injuries or damage, rebels said. –JOMAR CANLAS AND CRIS G. ODRONIA REPORTERS WITH REPORT FROM JOVEE MARIE N. DELA CRUZ AND AFP