By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – The Philippines urged the United States to approve its request to grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to undocumented Filipinos in America.
A TPS designation for the Philippines will allow more than 200,000 undocumented Filipinos to stay and work legally in the US for at least 18 months.
This will help the country rebuild much faster from the devastation of super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name” Haiyan), said Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) secretary Albert del Rosario.
He wrote separate letters to US Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson about the request.
Its approval would not only alleviate the plight of eligible Filipinos in the US but also ease the strain on the country’s infrastructure and resources, said del Rosario.
“Many of my countrymen in the US were affected by Haiyan,| said del Rosario. “This humanitarian assistance would provide temporary relief for them from the natural disaster.”
In a little over six weeks, the world will observe the first year anniversary of “Yolanda.”
“While the memory of the devastation still lingers in the psyches of the Filipino people, we have not forgotten the unprecedented outpouring of international support for the Philippines,” said del Rosario.
However, almost one year after the calamity, there is still much to be done, he stressed.
“Massive investments and necessary expertise are still necessary to continue the reconstruction work,” he said.
Manila formally filed for TPS designation in December last year, a few weeks after parts of Central Visayas were hit by “Yolanda”, considered one of the most powerful storms in history.
The storm killed more than 6,000 people and severely affected more than 1.4 million others in 17 provinces./PN
