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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon have been advised to stay indoors as riots hit the streets of the capital Beirut, the Philippines Special Envoy to the Middle East, Roy Cimatu, said.
While there is no need to evacuate the estimated 25,000 Filipinos there yet, the government has a standby evacuation plan via commercial or military C-130 planes, Cimatu told reporters here.
"The advisory is [to] stay indoors, don't go out for the moment in the streets, don't go to crowded places, especially where there protests in the streets," said the envoy, who also heads the government's Middle East preparedness team.
The envoy said he would go to Lebanon to inform OFWs there of the advisory. He said some Filipinos there could not be aware of the violence in the streets, since they are working mostly as household help.
Cimatu read to reporters a text message he received from Philippine charge d'affaires to Lebanon Mark Domia that read: "It?s street demos and violence, and they report [the riots are] ongoing with casualties, [and they are] monitoring developments."
Cimatu said there were no confirmed Filipino casualties in the street violence.
"That is what I'm worried about, because a Filipino is working with this group, another Filipino is working for this group. If these groups clash, they will be caught in between," he said.
