2nd batch of Lebanon-based Filipino workers set to arrive in PH Nov. 4

Department of Foreign Affairs | PHOTO: Official Gazette

MANILA, Philippines — Six Lebanon-based Filipino workers, the second batch of those returning in the country, are set to arrive on Saturday, November 4, said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

In a briefing on Thursday, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told reporters that a total of six Filipinos from Lebanon are set to arrive in the Philippines at around 3:55 p.m. on Saturday.

“May anim na darating sa November 4. Latest figures ay 162 want to be repatriated. Ang issue lang kasi sa 162 ay kailangan pang kunin ang kanilang exit clearance. Meron pang 45 na hinihintay ang exit clearance,” said de Vega.

(There are six who will arrive on November 4. Latest figures are 162 want to be repatriated. The only issue with 162 is that they still need to get their exit clearance. There are another 45 who are waiting for exit clearance.)

“May 28 na ine-endorse pa sa Lebanese immigration bago ang kanilang exit clearance. Merong 26 na kailangan pang i-inform ang employe[r]s,” he said, adding that there are also 41 Filipinos who weren’t allowed by their employers to leave.

(There are 28 who are still endorsed by Lebanese immigration before their exit clearance. There are 26 that still need to be informed to the employe[r]s.)

According to de Vega, the first batch of Filipino repatriates from Lebanon arrived in the Philippines on October 28.

The DFA earlier raised the crisis alert level in Lebanon to 3, advising Filipinos to consider leaving the area to avoid getting trapped in the clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops.

De Vega, however, noted that the situation in Lebanon is stable.

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“That’s why Filipinos don’t seem to be very interested in doing voluntary repatriation,” he said.

Filipinos in West Bank

Apart from Lebanon, there are also Filipinos in the West Bank who have signified their desires to be repatriated in light of the rising tension between Israel and Hamas.

READ: Israel strikes Gaza, Syria, West Bank as war threatens to ignite other fronts

“The government is ready to repatriate whoever wishes to be repatriated. There are four Filipinos also in the West Bank who wish to be repatriated and two [have] already entered Jordan on their own,” said De Vega.

De Vega earlier disclosed that there are at least 122 Filipinos in the West Bank, one of two designated Palestinian-occupied territories, the other being the Gaza Strip.