DFA warns Filipinos in Syria amid regime change

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday advised Filipinos in Syria to take necessary precautions and stay in contact with the Philippine Embassy in Damascus as rebel fighters claimed to have taken control of the capital and that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs continues to monitor, with concern, ongoing developments in Syria,” the agency said in a statement.

READ: Rebels declare end of Assad rule in Syria

“The Philippines calls on all concerned parties to exercise restraint and refrain from further violence, to avert further casualties and deaths of civilians,” the DFA added.

There are 703 Filipinos in Syria, according to DFA records.

Teresita Daza, spokesperson for the DFA, said that the entire country remains under Alert Level 4, which entails mandatory repatriation at the Philippine government’s expense. Due to the escalating violence, the Philippines has maintained the crisis alert level since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. —Jane Bautista