Palace renews call for Filipinos in Middle East to avail of gov’t repatriation effor

January 14, 2020

Malacanang reiterated on Monday its call to the Filipinos in the Middle East, particularly those in areas where highest alert level has been raised, to avail of the repatriation effort of the government.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said a ship of the Philippine Coast Guard, BRP Gabriela Silang, is in Malta and is ready to sail anytime to nearby countries where Filipinos are in danger and to ferry them to safer areas.

"We are closely monitoring Kuwait which just raised its security level to maximum last January 9, 2020. The Alert Level in Tripoli, Libya, up to a 100-km radius, was raised to 4 (mandatory evacuation). Outside the 100-km radius, it remains at Alert Level 2," he said. 

"We advise our kababayans in Iraq and in Tripoli, Libya to contact the nearest Philippine mission to facilitate their evacuation," Panelo added.

He noted that the first batch of evacuees, numbering 14 , is transported from the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq to Doha, Qatar en route to Manila.

He said the number may increase as the Embassy continues to call on the Filipinos who wish to go home.

He said the situation in the Middle East is still unstable and the contingencies for massive repatriation are still in place.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, also special envoy to the Middle East, is still in Qatar to implement the repatriation on the ground and constantly assessing the situation in Iran, Iraq, Libya and other neighboring states.

Tensions have escalated in the Middle East due to the conflict between the United States and Iran, especially after the killing of Iranian top commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad airport recently through America's airstrike. Celerina Monte/DMS