Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac (Screen grabbed from RTVM)
MANILA – The Philippine government is mobilizing its resources and assets to comply with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directive to bring home Filipinos from Lebanon, according to Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac.
“The directive is clear: To mobilize the government resources and assets to bring our Filipinos home. And at present, that’s what is being worked out in terms of sending a ship, which could mean either a transport by air or by sea,” Cacdac said during a briefing in Malacañang on Thursday.
He said 192 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon are ready for repatriation and have been booked on commercial flights from Oct. 11 to 28.
Eleven are arriving this weekend.
Cacdac said they have four Philippine shelters in Lebanon, attending to 179 Filipinos, including some Lebanese spouses and children.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) has deployed a social worker, a nurse, and a medical doctor to check on them regularly.
Meanwhile, about 413 OFWs are awaiting their clearance from Lebanese immigration authorities before they undergo the repatriation process.
He explained that the Lebanese immigration authorities follow a process before an OFW can be repatriated.
“Iyong 413, that would include the number of latest applicants na pina-process pa ng DMW na ipo-forward naman sa Lebanese general security (The 413, that would include the number of the latest applicants being processed by the DMW that will be forwarded to the Lebanese general security). It’s a two-step process, as far as we are concerned,” Cacdac said in reply to allegations of slow repatriation processes.
He assured that the government is ready should the alert level be raised to 4, which would call for mandatory repatriation.
He, however, urged all the Filipinos in Lebanon not to wait for the hoisting of alert level 4.
“Ang panawagan natin sa ating mga kababayan ay mag-avail na ng repatriation service, safe and free repatriation service ng Philippine government. Of course, mayroon silang sariling assessment at this stage kasi voluntary nga (Our call to our fellow Filipinos is to avail of the repatriation service, safe and free repatriation service of the Philippine government. Of course, they have their own assessment at this stage because it is voluntary) as to whether they are safe or not. But just the same, we make our services available,” he said. (PNA)
