BY VICTOR REYES and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
THE Department of Defense is unlikely to cancel a P12.7-billion deal with Russia for the acquisition of 17 heavy-lift helicopters, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday.
Last month, the Philippine government expressed its “explicit condemnation” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as it voted in favor of a United Nations resolution to condemn Russia’s act.
“No, we do not see any likelihood of (the deal) being scrapped as of this moment… We hope the Ukraine crisis is resolved soon,” said Lorenzana when asked if cancelling the deal is an option in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This developed as the Department of Foreign Affairs said at least 100 land-based Filipinos working in Ukraine continue to refuse to return to the Philippines. Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said 199 Filipinos have been evacuated and are now “out of harm’s way,” including 63 who are back in Manila.
Russia yesterday again promised to let civilians flee besieged cities in Ukraine, after days of mostly failed promises that have left hundreds of thousands trapped without access to medicine or fresh water.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said thousands more Ukrainian refugees fled to central and eastern Europe, many with no contacts and nowhere to go, as host countries scrambled to accommodate them.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the number of refugees has now probably reached 2.1-2.2 million, the head of the UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, said.
Arriola said 136 Filipinos in living and working in Ukraine are now staying in other European countries and waiting for repatriation.
The DFA previously said six Filipinos have been evacuated to Poland, 33 to Moldova, 73 to Romania, nine to Austria, and 15 to Hungary.
“We have about, among the land-based, a little over a hundred who refused to return home. But we are pleading to them, we have been calling them and we are asking them to go home),” Arriola said in mixed Filipino and English.
She said they are also trying to determine how many sea-based Filipino workers are still stranded in their vessels. She said this is aside from the 21 seafarers from MV S-Breeze and MV Joseph Schulte who arrived in the country the other day.
She said the Department of Foreign Affairs has been coordinating with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the local manning agencies for the extraction and evacuation of the Filipino seafarers who are still stranded in their ships.
Arriola could not say how many Filipinos are still in Ukraine or are staying in evacuation centers in the conflict-stricken country. She said what is certain is that there are still Filipinos in Lviv and Kyiv who are staying there because they are married to Ukrainians and have kids while others are still working, especially those who are household service workers who continue to stay with their employers, and those who are stranded in their ships.
Arriola said the Department of Foreign Affairs has been coordinating with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the local manning agencies for the extraction and evacuation of the Filipino seafarers who are still stranded in their ships.
She appealed to the Filipinos remaining in Ukraine to reconsider as she said more than two million “refugees” have left Ukraine because of the worsening and dangerous situation.
NO CANCELLATION
Lorenzana said the deal for the procurement of 17 Mi-17 helicopters from Russia was signed in November last year and the Philippine government made the down payment last January.
“The heavy lift helicopter procurement project with Russia is on track. The contract was signed and the down payment ware done before the Ukraine crisis happened (on February 24),” said Lorenzana.
“It is a multi-year procurement contract and the delivery of the first batch will be in 24 months (upon contract signing). Will the Ukraine crisis affect the project? Only time will tell,” said Lorenzana.
Under the government-to-government deal, DND public affairs chief Arsenio Andolong said, the helicopters are to be supplied by LLC Sovtechnoexport of the Russian Federation.
Andolong said only 16 Mi-17 helicopters were actually being acquired by the defense department and that the 17th unit was a “freebie.”
He said: “It’s plus one, that’s part of their (Russians) obligation,” Andolong said.
The Mi-17 helicopters, which are being acquired under the ongoing AFP modernization program, will complement a number helicopters that are in the Air Force inventory.
“Since the contract was signed and we made a down payment, there is already an ongoing contractual obligation on the side of Russia. The ball is now on their hands to fulfil those contractual obligations, whatever they are,” said Andolong.
“What the SND (secretary of national defense) meant when he said ‘time will tell’ is that it will depend on the ability of Russia to fulfill those obligations. As of now, it’s hard to tell if they can fulfill those (obligations),” added Andolong.
He nevertheless said the DND is ready to cancel the deal “just in case there is no chance they can deliver. But as of now, we are waiting if they can comply with their obligations under the contract, there are steps on that.”
Andolong said the DND has no plan, “at the moment,” to cancel the deal in connection with the Russian-Ukrain conflict.
‘APOCALYTIC’
LVIV, Ukraine — Russia announced a new ceasefire in Ukraine on Wednesday to let civilians flee besieged cities, after days of mostly failed promises that have left hundreds of thousands trapped without access to medicine or fresh water.
Wednesday’s announcement of “silence” was similar to one on Tuesday that promised safe passage from the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol. So far, only one corridor has been opened, out of Sumy on Tuesday.
Ukraine said it too had agreed to halt fire between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (0700-1900 GMT) to let civilians escape besieged cities through six corridors. In a televised statement, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called on Moscow to observe local ceasefires.
The greatest alarm has been sounded over Mariupol, a southern port totally surrounded by Russian troops for more than a week, where the Red Cross has described the situation faced by civilians as “apocalyptic.”
Residents there have been sheltering underground from relentless bombardment, unable to evacuate their wounded, and with no access to food, water, power or heat.
A series of local ceasefires to let them leave have failed since Saturday. Kyiv said 30 buses and eight trucks of supplies failed to reach it on Tuesday after they came under Russian shelling in violation of the ceasefire. Moscow has blamed Kyiv for failing to halt fire.
In Ukraine’s two biggest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, Russia’s safe passage offer would force civilians to go to Russia itself or its ally Belarus, proposals rejected by Kyiv.
More than 2 million people have fled Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion nearly two weeks ago. Moscow calls its action a “special military operation” to disarm its neighbour and dislodge leaders it calls “neo-Nazis.” Kyiv and its Western allies dismiss that as a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war against a democratic country of 44 million people.
The war has swiftly cast Russia into economic isolation never before visited on such a large economy. The United States said on Wednesday it was banning imports of Russian oil, a major change in policy after energy was previously exempted from sanctions.
Western companies have mostly withdrawn from the Russian market. — With Reuters
