Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello. PHOTO BY DEXTER CABALZA
MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said Wednesday that his department’s augmentation team was set to fly to Libya in anticipation of possible forced repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from the conflict-stricken country.
“Bagamat voluntary repatriation pa rin, siyempre pinaghahandaan na, na baka iakyat yung alert level to 4 in which case magkakaroon na ng forced repatriation,” Bello said in an interview with dzMM.
“Palagay ko aalis sila ngayon, yung aming augmentation team. Kung saka-sakaling magkaroon ng level 4 at magkaroon ng forced repatriation ay meron na tayong tao doon na tutulong,” he added.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised Alert Level III in Tripoli and its adjacent districts last April 8.
READ: DFA raises alert level 3 in Tripoli, several districts in Libya
Under 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 that country “until the situation in the country stabilizes, and the alert level is lowered back to II.”
Earlier, Bello said that only 20 percent of the 4,000 workers working and living in Tripoli were willing to return home despite the repatriation assistance being offered by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). /cbb
READ: Only 20% of 4,000 OFWs in Libya want to return home–Bello