THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said around 38 Pinoys have requested for repatriation amid Israel-Hamas conflict.
“About 38 persons,” Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told GMA News Online when asked to confirm reports of nine families or 30 people in Gaza asking for repatriation.
Asked about the steps and actions of the DFA regarding the request as well as the target date for the possible repatriation, De Vega said, “It is a complicated process due to the situation in Gaza”.
“But the Philippine Embassies in Tel-Aviv, Cairo, and Amman are working on the repatriation of Filipinos from Gaza,” he added.
In an update from DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza, the Embassy of the Philippines in Amman, Jordan reported nine families consisting of 38 Filipino nationals and 11 Palestinian spouses.
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Among the 38 Filipinos are 17 minors whose ages range from two to 15 years old, according to the update.
Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac, meanwhile, said repatriation and evacuation of Filipinos from Israel will be done “at the proper time.”
“Sa tamang oras, sa tamang panahon, in coordination with the Israeli authorities, ay tayo ay magsasagawa evacuation-repatriation doon sa mga nagnanais umuwi. Kapag dumating sa punto ng mandatory repatriation, ay isasagawa rin natin ito,” Cacdac said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.
Pending this, Cacdac said that authorities would continuously advise affected Filipinos to remain indoors or inside their bomb shelters to keep themselves safe.
Two Filipinos were injured amid the attacks in Israel, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said Tuesday.
“Oo, pero lahat ito nagri-recover na (Yes, but both of them are already recovering),” OWWA administrator Arnell Ignacio said when asked to confirm if there were two Filipinos hurt in the violence.
According to Ignacio, one of the wounded Filipinos was hospitalized in a Health Liaison Office (HLO) while the other, who suffered from suffocation, was staying in a hotel in Tel Aviv.
Currently, Ignacio said there were seven Filipinos that are unaccounted for.
“But we’re working 24/7 to account for our kababayans. Ang atin pong DFA, DMW, at meron naman tayong nakatalagang tao na nandiyan sa Israel, and of course ang [Israel Defense Forces], tinutulungan po tayo,” he said.
