♥ Saturday, February 26, 2011
Philippines offers to fly citizens home from Libya
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine government raised Tuesday the alert level for its nationals in Libya, offering to fly home 30,000 Filipino workers amid a bloody crackdown on protests calling for an end to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
Officials earlier said the deployment of workers to Libya, Bahrain and Yemen have been indefinitely deferred due to the unrest there.
Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said Filipinos living in Tripoli who wish to leave should contact the embassy and ask to be repatriated. He asked Filipinos not to leave without informing the embassy or their community coordinators.
He urged Filipinos in Libya to remain indoors and not go out alone in the streets. If their companies have repatriation arrangements, they are advised to join those repatriation efforts.
"As long as the airport in Tripoli is open, we will fly them from there," Conejos said. Other exit routes being eyed include Libya's borders with Tunisia, Egypt, Chad, Sudan and Nigeria, he added.
Voluntary repatriation only applies in Libya despite parallel protests in nearby Yemen and Bahrain, he added.
Some 15,000 Filipinos are concentrated in the capital Tripoli and areas around it. Another 10,000 are in Benghazi and 5,000 in Al-Bayda and small towns in between, the department's data show.
Some 95 percent of the Filipinos there are professionals including doctors, nurses and engineers while the others are skilled workers in equipment operations and in the oil and gas industries.
The foreign affairs and labor departments have committed a $175,000-dollar fund for the operation and the government has requested the International Organization for Migration to assist in arranging flights for Filipinos wishing to leave Egypt.
Reaction:
As we all know, there are countless Filipinos who work overseas. They are somewhat forced and are unwilling to work abroad but still they choose to leave for the well-being of their loved ones left behind here in the Philippines. They have sacrificed and endured the pain of being away from home.
On the other hand, even though they find it hard and painful being away, they still choose to work, help and provide for those who are left behind. Little do they know, not only they help their own family but also the country through sending home billions of dollars that fuel domestic spending and economic growth.
Knowing that, it is good to see in the news that our government are doing all that they can to help those Filipinos overseas and that they are willing to spend a huge amount of money for the safety of our fellow Filipinos. While watching the news, I overheard people saying “they should not attend and give that much to those who are abroad” it is because they think that they and their own families are the only ones who benefit from the bountiful profit they get abroad, and yet all of us suffer if one of them gets in trouble. Of course, it is also our money that the government use to fund to save our fellowmen abroad. But as we all know we do not know what the future might bring and we have no control over things. So we should not blame those hopefuls abroad. They do not only contribute dilemmas in our country rather they bring profit.
Therefore, I believe they are doing the right thing no matter what others think and I am sure and I truly believe that our government officials are not putting to waste such huge amount and they are giving what the OFWs deserve and has provided them what they are due to receive. It is our responsibility to help one another specially those who are in need, overseas workers or not. And we should all think positively, and stop looking only for the flaws that our country have.
