THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is reviewing the situation in the Middle East to determine if it will raise the alert in Lebanon to Level 4 from the current Level 3, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said yesterday.
Level 4 calls for the mandatory repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Lebanon.
President Marcos Jr. last Wednesday ordered government agencies to mobilize all resources to ensure the evacuation and repatriation of all Filipinos in Lebanon.
Cacdac said 192 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon are set to be repatriated from October 11 to 28, including 11 who are set to arrive in the country by weekend.
He said commercial flights have been booked for the returning Filipinos.
He said around 413 others are yet to be processed by Lebanese immigration authorities.
He said there are at least 179 Filipinos staying in four shelters of the Department of Migrant Workers in Beirut, where they are “safe and sound” and attended by a nurse, social worker, and a doctor.
Asked why only a fraction of the 11,000 Filipinos based in Lebanon have agreed to be repatriated, Cacdac said it may be due to the nature of work of the OFWs and the income.
Cacdac said about 98 percent of the Filipino workers in Lebanon are domestic workers who are staying with their employers.
He reiterated the government’s call for the Filipinos in Lebanon to avail themselves of free repatriation service, adding they would be provided P150,000 in cash assistance side from skills training, among others, upon their return.
Arnel Ignacio, administrator of the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, said the government is ready to provide shelters to Filipinos who may be living in the streets amid the firefight between Israel and Lebanon.
He said there is enough space and even food in the DMW shelters in Beirut.
He said they have, however, not found those reported to be staying in tents or the streets.
