Department of Foreign Affairs. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega on Wednesday said the Philippine government will not instantly or completely lift restrictions on Myanmar.
“Gusto natin matiyak na 100 percent na [safe] ito (We want to make sure that it is 100 percent safe). One thing’s for sure, we will not lift completely the Alert Level dahil may (because there are) various alert levels,” de Vega said in an interview over DZMM TeleRadyo.
READ: DFA: Alert Level 4 on Myanmar stays ‘until further notice’
De Vega is referring to the four alert levels of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA): Alert Level 1 or precaution; Alert Level 2 or restriction phase where only workers with existing contracts will be allowed to travel; Alert Level 3 or voluntary repatriation; and Alert Level 4 or mandatory repatriation.
The DFA raised Alert Level 4 on Myanmar in 2021 as the conflict escalated in the Southeast Asian country. But the official admitted that the rising number of illegal recruiters is also among the reasons why the DFA is having a hard time easing the curb.
READ: DFA asked to downgrade Alert Level 4, lift travel ban on Myanmar
He assured the public that the DFA is not purposely preventing Filipinos who hope to work in Myanmar from doing so but that they just want to make sure of their safety. He said the DFA is looking at easing the restriction in selected parts of Myanmar.
READ: POEA temporarily bars deployment of new hires in Myanmar
“Medyo mataas ang Alert Level 4, [but] we concede na pwedeng ibaba except for selected places lang in the country, although magiging mahirap [itong] ma-implement,” he furthered.
(Alert Level 4 is quite high, but we concede that it can be lowered except for selected places in the country, although it will be difficult to implement.)
RELATED STORIES
DFA aims to bring home 100 more Filipinos from war-torn Sudan this week
DFA raises alert level in Sudan amid civil unrest