THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago and Vice Consul Bojer Capati figured in a road accident as they tried to reach the Egypt-Sudan border to assist Filipinos trying to get out of strife-torn Sudan.
DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza said Tago was unhurt in the accident and has returned to Cairo.
“Fortunately he was unharmed. He has returned to Cairo and will be flying to the border to facilitate the entry of Filipino evacuees to Egypt,” Daza said.
Later, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose de Vega said Tago was with Capati, who was also unharmed.
“In their rush to get to the border by car to help incoming Filipinos cross through, Ambassador Ezzedin Tago and Vice Consul Bojer Capati got into a car accident where their car rolled over two times,” De Vega said.
“They survived and are still proceeding somehow to the border later today. The vice consul is first clearing with hospital now,” he added.
President Marcos on Tuesday said government will try to get trapped Filipinos out of Sudan within a 72-hour ceasefire period that started Tuesday in Sudan.
A UN envoy said the truce was partially holding even although there was no sign that the two sides were ready for serious talks.
Wire reports said fighting flared anew in despite the ceasefire but a UN envoy said the truce was partially holding.
De Vega said the car accident took place as some 300 Filipinos were being evacuated yesterday morning aboard seven buses.
He asked Filipinos in Sudan for understanding, saying government through the embassy in Cairo is doing everything to get them out of Sudan amid clashes between Army troops loyal to Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
De Vega said the embassy is working to secure more buses to transport Filipinos to Egypt, a distance of around 1,000 kilometers, but he said the challenge is the processing at the Egyptian border.
He said Tago is working to address the problem and has deployed an embassy team to the border.
The embassy in Cairo also exercises jurisdiction over Sudan.
Daza acknowledged the difficulty of securing more buses due to the “scarcity of bus drivers” and the “increasing rental prices.”
But Daza said the embassy is working round-the-clock to address the problems.
“The Philippine Embassy in Cairo has made representations with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the temporary entry into Egypt of Filipino nationals and is exploring deployment of teams in two locations in Wadi Halfa and Port Sudan provide consular assistance to evacuating Filipinos,” Daza added.
The DFA said 80 Filipinos have so far left Sudan, while 270 more are requesting for repatriation to Manila. Daza said most of them are professionals and are working in agricultural and engineering companies.
Daza said a Filipino was “wounded in the hand but he has received treatment.”
It was not clear if the Filipino was the same one De Vega earlier said was injured by a stray bullet.
FRENCH EVACUATION
The French Embassy in Manila said its forces have evacuated a number of Filipinos stranded in Sudan.
“France continues its evacuation operations launched in Khartoum for French nationals and citizens of other countries, including the Philippines, wanting to leave Sudan,” the embassy said, adding the evacuation was done via sea.
The embassy did not specify the number of Filipinos evacuated.
It said that France will continue to assist in the evacuation of its citizens and other nationals from the African state.
Last Saturday, three Filipino women working for Saudia Airlines were among a group of Saudi citizens and foreigners evacuated by Saudi forces from the Port of Sudan to the King Faisal Naval Base in Jeddah, the first Filipinos to be evacuated from Sudan.
