More Pinoys have left Libya – DFA chief

BY SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief, Panay News
MANILA – Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Acting Secretary Albert Del Rosario is now in Jerba, the Tunisian city closest to the Libyan border, and has reported that an increasing numbers of Filipinos have already exited Libya.
Del Rosario, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos and a small team originally planned to proceed to Tripoli but decided to proceed to Tunisia due to the de facto “no fly advisory” that is being considered for Libya by the international community.
According to Del Rosario, an additional 131 Filipinos have crossed the Libyan-Tunisian border at Ras al-Jedir late Saturday.
A DFA team received them at the border and made arrangements for their flight home.
Meanwhile, Philippine Embassy in Athens Charge d'Affaires Constancio Vingno reported that five Filipinos arrived safely in the Greek island of Crete late on Saturday.
Philippine Honorary Consul Alexandros Fasoulakis and the Filipino community in Crete are providing assistance to the five Filipinos.
Vingno is en route to the Greek port city of Pereos to receive some 144 Filipinos working for the Dutch construction company Bam who are due to arrive there.
He is likewise finalizing arrangements with Greek shipping companies for ferries to pick up Filipinos in Benghazi.
Meanwhile, 15 Filipinos who were flown to Madrid by their employers were expected to arrive in Manila yesterday afternoon.
The Philippine Embassy in Madrid, in close coordination with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Madrid, welcomed them Saturday afternoon and provided them shelter and food during their short stay there.
The DFA also announced that its has dispatched its second batch of augmentation teams to assist Filipinos exiting Libya and on their way to the Philippines.
Four teams composed of five persons each are being deployed to the border crossing stations in Tunisia, Egypt, Malta and Crete, the DFA said.
These personnel come from the DFA headquarters in Pasay City and selected Philippine embassies in the Middle East. Most of them are Arabic speakers or had previous stints in Libya or nearby countries.
The teams will welcome and assist Filipinos who are crossing the Libyan border to Egypt or Tunisia, as well as those arriving by boat in Malta or Crete, and arrange their onward flights to the Philippines.
The DFA has likewise mobilized its other embassies and consulates in that region where the Filipinos will be passing through.
The teams started departing for their posts Saturday night. They had a briefing Saturday morning from Special Assistant at the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs lawyer Enrico Fos on their respective assignments.
In view of the escalating violence and widespread insecurity in Libya, the DFA is on a full relocation and repatriation mode.
In Manila, the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) continues to attend to families of Filipinos in Libya, briefing them about the government's measures being undertaken and in place.
On Saturday, 97 Filipinos from the OEA Grand Projects arrived in Manila from Paris after being repatriated by their employer.
They arrived in five batches, with a group of 16 and 20, Saturday morning aboard a Cathay Pacific flight and a Gulf Air flight respectively.
A third batch of 12 arrived at noon the same day aboard a Singapore Air flight./PN