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MANILA, Philippines -- As the number of Filipinos who agreed to leave Gaza continued to go down from 70 to 66 to 13, and as of last briefing to six, most of those who have decided to stay in the war-torn strip, have done so because of love and family.
At Monday's press briefing, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos said the Philippine government originally offered repatriation to 128, consisting of 20 Filipinas and their families, but the wives chose to stay with their husbands when the Israeli government refused to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza.
Unlike the previous evacuation of overseas Filipinos in distress, Foreign Affairs spokesman Claro Cristobal said this batch was choosing to stay not for money or work (as in the Lebanon crisis a couple of years back or the Thailand unrest last December), but for "love."
Conejos said that as in the previous repatriations, the Philippine government could only provide the opportunity for the Filipinos to leave, but “they cannot be forced to leave.” “We would be in bigger trouble if we do.”
"We cannot interfere in the love area. Remember these are adult Filipinos who are accountable for their children. They have taken responsibility for their own life and their decision is to stay with their husbands," he said.
In a related development, Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said a deployment ban to either Gaza or Israel was not being considered.
He said that there was only one Filipino worker in Gaza and she has refused to leave, while the Filipinos in Israel were safe since they were covered by the Israeli civil defense.
However, Conejos said there was no guarantee that the evacuation and extraction, which the Philippine government was attempting Monday morning (Gaza time), would be successful.
As of the latest count from the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, only six Filipinos have agreed to leave Gaza.
"One family has backed out. Only one family consisting of five Filipinos and one nun will leave Gaza," Conejos said.
"These are families who have established roots in Gaza and have minimal connections to the Philippines," he said.
"Israel is on a full-scale military offensive. The area is a combat zone…It is very possible that this operation can be completely cancelled. The front lines are moving rapidly," he said.
"There are no guarantees. In times of war, no entity can guarantee the safety of our nationals," he added.
Conejos said the full military assault of Gaza by Israeli troops starting Sunday made for a more dangerous situation. He said the removal of the Filipinos from the region was being attempted in the morning because that was the experience of the 260 Russians who fled the area last week.
"This is not a simple operation. We had to coordinate with a number of entities -- the Red Cross for the bus, the Israeli military for the clearance to leave Gaza, and a third country that will act as transit point to Manila," he said.
Conejos said the department submitted requests for exit to Egypt and Jordan.
"Jordan was the first to respond on the condition that [the repatriates] have plane tickets because they did not want refugee camps. On December 28, one day after the first air strikes, we submitted to the Israeli authorities the list of Filipinos to be repatriated, but they did not allow Palestinians to leave," he added.
The Israel attacks, starting with air strikes on December 27, are on its second week, this time with ground troops.
Conejos said that except for the nun, who will stay on in Tel Aviv, the plan would be for the extracted Filipinos to leave via bus and aided by the International Red Cross from Gaza to Erezt (border of Gaza and Israel) to Allenby (border of Israel and Jordan) to Amman, where they will take a Royal Jordanian Airlines flight to Manila via Bangkok.
"We have booked them for Monday flights, but we have protective bookings for Tuesday and Wednesday for the possibility that they might not make it Monday," he said.
At the same time, Conejos said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has instructed Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu to leave for Jordan to coordinate the Philippine efforts from there.
Once the repatriates are in the country, they will temporarily stay at the dormitory of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration before they will be sent to their home province and provided some form of livelihood assistance, Labor Secretary Roque said.
