1 OFW signs up as DFA issues final call for 3rd boat trip out of Libya

MANILA, Philippines—Only one overseas Filipino worker in Tripoli, so far, has signed up for the third boat trip out of the Libyan capital that is being arranged by the International Organization for Migration, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The IOM-chartered ferry is scheduled to leave Tripoli port for Benghazi on Thursday, DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said Wednesday.

Citing a report of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, Hernandez said “we will know by Thursday how many exactly would take this third boat trip.”

“(DFA) Undersecretary Rafael Seguis and the embassy team are making last minute calls to OFWs and convince them to join the third batch of evacuees,” he also said.

In a related development, 36 OFWs who earlier fled Libya were scheduled to arrive in Manila Wednesday afternoon on an Emirates Airways flight EK 332 from Cairo.

“Thirty-five of the 36 were on board the first boat chartered by the IOM. They earlier disembarked in Benghazi and proceeded to the Egyptian border town of Al Sallum by land and onward to Cairo,” according to Hernandez.

On the other hand, “the 10 OFWs who joined the second boat trip last Sunday have already arrived in Benghazi.”

“They are on their way to Al Sallum and then to Cairo where at a later date, they will take a commercial flight to Manila,” said Hernandez.

Eight of the OFWs were medical workers in a hospital in Esbea, located 45 kilometers south of the Libyan capital.

On Saturday, Seguis and the embassy team “made a bold attempt to pick up OFWs” from their workplaces in a suburb of Tripoli.

“But when they reached the edge of the town leading to the destination in Esbea, they were advised by the rebels (fighting Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi) to turn back for fear that they might get hurt in the heavy fighting taking place,” Hernandez disclosed.

Last week, at least 91 OFWs expressed interest in availing themselves of the government-funded repatriation program.

The National Transitional Council in Libya had arranged for their “safe passage” to the Tripoli ferry terminal.

The Philippines has recognized the NTC as the “legitimate representative of the Libyan people during this period of transition in the country and hopes that it will lead the country towards peace and stability.”