MANILA, Philippines – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. begged overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Libya to evacuate to the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli amid the rising violence in the north African nation.
In a tweet late Sunday, Locsin said: Please go to the embassy, I beg you.
Please go to the embassy, I beg you. https://t.co/LDQJTi2m2Q
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) April 28, 2019
Locsin’s appeal comes following an earlier Twitter post by Chargé d’Affaires Elmer Cato, asking Filipinos working at the Ali Omar Ashkr Hospital in Esbea to move to the Embassy immediately.
“[The embassy] appeals to the more than 60 of our kababayans working at the Ali Omar Ashkr Hospital in Esbea and their dependents to evacuate now,” Cato wrote.
“The area is no longer safe. Please don’t wait for more artillery rounds to fall. Please move to the Embassy now,” he added.
@PhinLibya appeals to the more than 60 of our kakababayan working at the Ali Omar Ashkr Hospital in Esbea and their dependents to evacuate now. The area is no longer safe. Please don’t want for more artillery rounds to fall. Please move to the Embassy now. @teddyboylocsin @DFAPHL pic.twitter.com/Bg9SsjnsCU
— Elmer G Cato (@elmer_cato) April 28, 2019
Cato earlier said that at least 41 Filipino workers in Libya availed of the government’s offer of repatriation since fighting broke out on April 4.
Of this number, 32 have already been repatriated from Tripoli, as the embassy continues to appeal to Filipinos in Libya to consider returning to the Philippines.
READ: Filipinos repatriated from Libya climb to 32 — DFA
Alert level III is currently in effect in Tripoli and several districts in Libya in the wake of the continuing violence near the country’s capital. /gsg
READ: DFA raises alert level 3 in Tripoli, several districts in Libya