MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino has reportedly been hurt in rocket attacks in residential areas in the Libyan capital, the Philippines Embassy in Tripoli said Wednesday.
In a Twitter post, Chargé d’Affaires Elmer Cato said that a Filipino was wounded in the forehead and was requesting repatriation.
“We have one Filipino wounded in the forehead. He now wants to go home,” Cato said.
“We hope our kababayan (fellow Filipinos) in Tripoli would now realize the danger we have been warning them and would ask us to bring them home,” he added.
We have one Filipino wounded in the forehead. He now wants to go home. We hope our kababayan in Tripoli would now realize the danger we have been warning them and would ask us to bring them home. @PhinLibya is ready.
— Elmer G Cato (@elmer_cato) April 16, 2019
Cato said Filipinos in Libya earlier informed the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli that “ground shook as rockets rained on Abu Salim (a district in Tripoli) and other areas.”
“Rockets hit some houses and a number of parked vehicles reportedly on fire,” he added.
Filipinos in Tripoli informed @PhinLibya that ground shook as rockets rained on Abu Salim and other areas a few minutes ago. Rockets hit some houses and a number of parked vehicles reportedly on fire. @teddyboylocsin @DFAPHL
— Elmer G Cato (@elmer_cato) April 16, 2019
With this, the embassy urged Filipinos in Tripoli to “stay indoors in wake of multiple rocket attacks in residential areas including near where some kababayan are located.”
@PhinLibya urges Filipinos in Tripoli to stay indoors in wake of multiple rocket attacks in residential areas including near where some kababayan are located.
— Elmer G Cato (@elmer_cato) April 16, 2019
However, Cato said that it would still be up to the Filipinos there if they choose to “go or stay” amid the escalating violence in Libya.
Yes Sir. That’s what we have been telling them. The decision to go or stay is theirs. But they and their families in the Philippines can count on us to bring them home if they want us to. Dead or alive we will get them home.
— Elmer G Cato (@elmer_cato) April 17, 2019
This in response to Locsin’s tweet saying: They (Filipinos in Libya) will make their own decisions because no one else is qualified to make decisions for them but when they say even at the very last minute they wanna go, we go in and get them. No drama, just duty.
Let's just get him home. And thanks for letting our people know. They will make their own decisions because no one else is qualified to make decisions for them but when they say even at the very last minute they wanna go, we go in and get them. No drama, just duty. https://t.co/8w4horp37W
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) April 16, 2019
Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised Alert Level III in Tripoli and its adjacent districts.
READ: DFA raises alert level 3 in Tripoli, several districts in Libya
Under the Alert Level III or the “voluntary repatriation” phase, Filipinos working in Libya but are currently in the Philippines will not be allowed to travel back to the country “until the situation in the country stabilizes, and the alert level is lowered back to II.” /cbb