DFA: Don’t worry about Libyan money, BSP will convert to pesos

Stranded foreign workers try to exchange money at the Giuliana pier in the eastern Libyan port of Benghazi on February 27, 2011. Overseas Filipino workers fleeing strife-torn Libya need not worry about the Libyan currency that they are bringing home, as the Department of Foreign Affairs has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to allow them to convert their Libyan dinars into pesos, according to Assistant Foreign Secretary Charles Jose. AFP PHOTO/MARCO LONGARI

MANILA, Philippines–Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) fleeing strife-torn Libya need not worry about the Libyan currency that they are bringing when they come home.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has asked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to allow these OFWs to convert their Libyan dinars into pesos, according to Assistant Foreign Secretary Charles Jose.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has also ordered the suspension of overseas absentee voter registration in Libya and four other war-torn countries following the DFA’s recommendation.

“Now that we have received a recommendation from the DFA, the suspension of registration will be effective immediately in view of the deteriorating security situation in those countries,” said Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, chair of the Comelec’s Office for Overseas Voting.

Banks closed in Libya

Reports said Filipino repatriates from Libya were concerned about the Libyan currency they would be bringing home. They could not go to banks in Libya and convert these into their preferred currencies as the banks were closed due to fighting between Libyan troops and militias struggling to take over territories there.

Jose said the DFA discussed this problem with the BSP and that in return, it asked for the DFA to provide the OFWs with the “demographic profile” of the returning workers.

“In this way, the BSP can instruct its regional offices to extend this kind of banking service,” said Jose, also DFA spokesperson.

The DFA continues to urge 13,000 Filipinos in Libya to take up the government’s offer to evacuate and repatriate them.

The government has repatriated from Libya more than 900 OFWs since two months ago when it first alerted them to consider voluntary repatriation and later, mandatory repatriation.

With the closure of the Tunisian border, the DFA is expected to undertake Thursday an evacuation of OFWs in Libya by sea.

The DFA has hired a ship to ferry out Filipinos from the port cities of Benghazi, Misrata and Tripoli before proceeding to Malta where they would be flown home.

Chartered PAL flight

The DFA is also chartering a Philippine Airlines flight to bring home these OFWs from Malta.

The places where voter registration was “indefinitely suspended” included Syria, Iraq, Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, Tagle told reporters on Tuesday.

The official said the Comelec arrived at the decision on Monday night following advice from the DFA, which had raised the crisis alert level in the Gaza Strip, Iraq, Libya and Syria to 4 (mandatory repatriation). It raised Alert Level 2 (restriction phase) in Ukraine.

He said the Comelec would lift the suspension if the security situation in those countries improved.