MANILA – The Philippines has released some P50 million in fresh funds to repatriate Filipinos working in the strife-torn countries of Libya, Syria and Iraq, including Gaza.
The money, released by the Department of Budget and Management, is to augment the P100-million emergency fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs to help in the continuing repatriation of Filipinos affected by the deteriorating security situation there.
The DFA had declared Crisis Alert Level 4 in the four areas, issuing a total deployment ban and implementing mandatory repatriation for Filipinos living or working there.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said Filipino workers face uncertainty and danger due to the untenable security situation in Libya, Syria, Iraq and Gaza.
He said the fund came from the 2013 Contingent Fund and will supplement the DFA’s Assistance-To-Nationals Fund.
The Department of Labor and Employment and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration are also working on necessary measures and processes to provide funds amounting to P50 million and P800 million respectively to help in the repatriation.
“Our repatriation program is an important tool in the government’s support system for Filipinos abroad. It gives us the ability to act on emergency conditions, whether in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. Our primary goal, as always, is to look out for the welfare of fellow Filipinos around the world, especially those living in conflict zones,” Abad said.
The DFA ordered the pullout of Filipinos in the Gaza Strip in June 2014 due to threats to security in relation to the Israel-Hamas conflict. Around the same time, they made a similar call in Iraq because of the rapidly deteriorating security situation. In July 2014, the DFA called for the repatriation of Filipinos in Libya because of the worsening violence. The on-going repatriation of Filipinos in Syria first started in December 2012. (Mindanao Examiner, DBM)
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