MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino gave assurance yesterday that measures are underway for the immediate evacuation of thousands of Filipinos trapped in the violent political upheaval in Libya.
Aquino said the government had made transport arrangements and identified exit points for the safe evacuation of some 13,000 Filipinos in Libya should the political situation escalate.
He said most of the 26,000 Filipinos in Libya are professionals working for multinational corporations that have their own evacuation plans.
“Those that will not be taken by their employers, those are the ones that we are preparing for,” Aquino said.
The President said the government is negotiating with Philippine Airlines and Qatar Airways for charter flights to evacuate the Filipino workers trapped in widening chaos.
He said the transport cost would roughly be P13 million per flight that could handle 200 to 300 people.
Aquino also said a standby fund of at least P100 million had been released to the Philippine embassy in Tripoli, with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to finance the travel back home.
He said additional funds would be released if the need arises for prompt evacuation.
“The problem with actual evacuation is that as you all know, there has been a lot of killings in Libya – close to 300 according to media reports – and the question of safety of moving our people from wherever to their destination also has to take in mind whether it increases their risk… you have to be very, very cautious that you do not increase their danger by unnecessarily moving them from point A to point B,” Aquino said.
Aquino learned that 96 Filipinos made their way out from Libya on their way to France while 13 others crossed the border to Egypt.
The DFA said Judith Tuvera, an engineer working for a multinational firm in Libya, was the first Filipino to cross the border to Egypt.
The DFA said Tuvera was helped across the border by her employer.
Aquino told a news conference that the Philippines was not prepared to break relations with Libya at this time amid the violence being employed against protesters by the government of Libyan President Muammar Gadhafi.
Aquino stressed the main concern of the government are the Filipino workers in Libya and how they could be protected.
Aquino explained he did not want to risk the lives of the Filipinos by making any political pronouncements.
“We still have to deal with the government in place to safeguard our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers). This is not the time to break relations with them or increase the tension that is already ongoing. We might end up being retaliated. The first duty of the government is to protect its citizens,” he said.
‘Biblical exodus’
The escalating violence forced governments worldwide to exert full efforts to get their nationals out of Libya.
Fears of a full-scale civil war in the North African country prompted countries from Canada to China to charter ferries and planes to get their citizens to safety despite poor communication and violent clashes.
Thousands of foreigners packed Tripoli’s airport hoping to leave the widening chaos behind, with those who managed to flee describing anarchic scenes with food and water supplies running low.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva has also deployed medical teams to Libya.
As Libya’s defiant leader clung to power,
China ramped up a massive air, sea and land operation to evacuate more than 30,000 of its citizens, with over 4,000 transferred to the Greek island of Crete yesterday.
Thailand, which has more than 23,000 workers in Libya, said it was making preparations to get its citizens to Malta, but warned it may be safer for them to stay in their compounds than to travel to a port.
Hundreds of Americans and other foreigners have boarded a US-chartered ferry in Tripoli but high seas delayed their departure for Malta.
Turkey evacuated upwards of 6,000 of its nationals over three days by air, sea and land in a massive operation, but thousands were still waiting to leave with an estimated 25,000 Turks based in Libya.
The logistical challenges were especially acute for Asian countries with over 150,000 low-paid workers trapped -- including some 60,000 Bangladeshis and 30,000 Filipinos.
According to Migrante International, Filipinos had been left to fend for themselves, as Vice President Jejomar Binay planned to fly to the region to review emergency plans.
Migrante chairman Gary Martinez complained that the government had “really messed up.”
“When we spoke to one group of construction workers last night, they said they will try to make it across the border to Egypt by bus (yesterday), because they haven’t heard from any government official,” he said.
Martinez said reports reaching the Migrante office in Manila from their partner organizations in Libya said many of the nearly 30,000 Filipinos living there were stranded.
He said a group of 100 workers in Al Kufrah district in southeastern Libya bordering Egypt had been abandoned by their local supervisors to fend for themselves inside their camps.
“We’ve lost contact with them. But the last time we spoke to them yesterday, they said they’d run out of food and were not being helped by their local counterparts,” he said.
“They reported they could hear heavy gunfire in surrounding areas, making it dangerous for them to move. They want to be rescued.”
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also urged the government to take immediate action in assisting the Filipino workers trapped in Libya.
“If the Filipinos in these countries are in danger, then the government should take action. It is our obligation, especially the government, to give protection to our OFWs,” Iniguez said.
Aquino, on the other hand, explained what he called “limitations” for the immediate evacuation of the Filipino workers trapped in Libya.
“There has been criticism that we have not been handling to attending to them. That is not correct. There are severe limitations on what we can do. I would like to emphasize, perhaps if we were as rich a country as America then we could have consulates anywhere and everywhere,” he said.
Aquino said the government sent a team from the DFA and DOLE to assist the Filipino workers in Libya.
“The way it works is that it’s not the embassy that goes out to each and every citizen we have in the country. We work with civic associations, various other NGOs, the firms that have employed them to be able to collect our people and put them in areas of lesser risk,” he said.
Aquino stressed the mandatory evacuation would be done only if necessary. He added it might not be safe to move the Filipinos out of their relocation sites at this time.
“We don’t have a consulate in Benghazi. That’s the first difficulty. If we move them, get them out of troubled area, where exactly do we bring them to. Malta is the nearest. Malta you will have to go by ship. The port of Tobruk has also been closed. The airports have also been closed, meaning the airport in Tripoli, the airport in Benghazi has been closed,” he pointed out.
Overseer
Vice President Jejomar Binay said he was tasked to oversee and monitor the evacuation plans of the Filipinos trapped in Libya.
Binay, presidential adviser on the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) concerns, said he might extend for more than a week his visit to the Middle East because he will have to fly to other destinations.
“I have received instructions from the President to closely monitor and if needed, give guidance to the team overseeing the evacuation of Filipinos from Libya. Since I am already in the region, I will be doing what needs to be done to ensure the safety of our kababayans,” Binay said.
Binay said the DFA had already identified the places in Libya where the distressed Filipino workers can take refuge.
He also assured the Filipinos in Libya that the government is exerting all efforts to ensure their safe return home should they decide to leave.
Binay added the government of Tunisia had agreed to serve as an exit point for OFWs departing from Libya.
“Representations will also be made with other neighboring countries to allow safe passage for OFWs. We will also ask other neighboring countries near the Middle East to be the OFWs safe haven,” Binay said.
Migrante, on the other hand, expressed hopes that Binay would help resolve the problems affecting workers in the region.
Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said they are planning to discuss with Binay possible programs for the protection of OFWs including domestic helpers and construction workers.
“DH (domestic helpers) and construction workers are the most vulnerable to abuses, maltreatment, and labor malpractices,” Monterona said.
Monterona said they would also discuss the cases of mysterious deaths of Filipino workers as well as the cases of those who are “overstaying” in jails.
There are about 48 OFWs who claimed they already completed their respective jail terms but are still languishing in jail, Migrante said.
No immediate effect
Amid the escalating political unrest in Libya, DOLE sees no massive displacement of OFWs in the country.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the prevailing hostilities in Libya are expected to be temporary and thus unlikely to have major impact on employment of Filipino workers.
Baldoz noted Libyan employers have already signified their intention to retain the employment of Filipino workers, including those who are seeking immediate repatriation.
“We expect the situation in Libya to be temporary and the employers there said they will keep the services of their Filipino workers and they expect them to return after the situation normalizes,” Baldoz disclosed.
The government has already allocated some P100 million for the repatriation of Filipino workers in Libya.
The government, through the Department of Science and Technology’s Technology Resource Center (DOST-TRC) has launched the “Tulong-Kababayan” program to provide free livelihood training to Filipino workers displaced by the deepening political unrest in Libya.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, for his part, suggested to Congress to pass a law authorizing a supplemental budget of P750 million to finance the immediate repatriation of OFWs in the region.
“We have to do something fast while there’s still time instead of members of Congress and DOLE blaming each other,” Salceda said.
“The present P50 million budget of the DOLE is simply not enough to repatriate the present number of OFWs in those countries,” he added. With Pia Lee-Brago, Mayen Jaymalin, Helen Flores, Evelyn Macairan, Sheila Crisostomo, Cet Dematera, Celso Amo - By Aurea Calica
