By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – The Philippine government chartered a ship and two Philippine Airlines (PAL) flights to bring home 766 Filipinos from the strife-torn Libya.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the first flight, PR 9009 carrying 419 Filipinos, was expected to land in Manila at 10 p.m. last night.
On the other hand, the second flight, PR 9007 that has 347 Filipinos onboard, will arrive at 3:30 a.m. today.
Both fights originate from Malta where the government-chartered ship, “F/B Bridge” ferried Filipinos from the Libyan cities of Benghazi and Misrata.
Upon their arrival, the repatriates will be briefed and assisted, including the provision of fares and/or transportation assistance to their hometowns/provinces by the DFA and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) representatives.
This latest arrival brings the total number of Filipinos repatriated from Libya at government expense to 2,727.
“Our mission is to ensure the safety of Filipinos caught in dangerous situations abroad,” said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario. “We remain committed to helping our nationals in Libya in any way we can.”
DFA declared Crisis Alert Level 4 in Libya on July 20, which led to the issuance of a total deployment ban and the implementation of the mandatory repatriation program (MRP) by the Philippine government.
On August 2, del Rosario personally traveled to Djerba, Tunisia to oversee repatriation operations and encourage Filipinos still in Libya to avail themselves of the MRP while exit points remain open.
Repatriation from Libya is being undertaken via land route through the Libya-Tunisia border and via sea route to Malta.
The Philippine government is also exploring the use of the Libya-Egypt border as a possible exit point.
Rapid Response Teams, composed of the personnel from the DFA, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-OWWA and Philippine National Police (PNP) have been deployed in Libya, Tunisia, Malta and Egypt to coordinate repatriation efforts./PN
