Over 500 Filipinos still in Lebanon responded positively to Manila’s voluntary repatriation offer and are hoping to leave as soon as the Philippine Embassy can charter a plane to take them back home.
In an advisory on Wednesday, the Embassy told other Filipinos seeking to leave the war-torn country to register online, and prepare their passports and iqamas (residence permits).
Embassy authorities told them there is no need to submit a duplicate form to further hasten the repatriation process.
“The Embassy is actively coordinating with Lebanese authorities to expedite the urgent release of exit clearances for undocumented Filipino nationals,” the advisory stated.
Israel in recent weeks has carried out ground incursions into parts of Lebanon in addition to air strikes, with the stated aim to go after the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Lebanese health ministry said that over the past year, Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,350 people, left nearly 11,000 wounded and displaced more than 1.2 million people.
On October 9, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. directed Philippine government agencies to mobilize all available assets to repatriate Filipinos from affected areas in the Middle East.
As of October 14, the Department of Migrant Workers said that plane tickets have been booked for a total of 254 Filipinos in Lebanon, whose flights are scheduled from October 14 to 28.
Up to 300 Filipinos also have pending repatriation requests with the Lebanese authorities.
“To our knowledge, more or less 500 [OFWs] are seeking to go home to the Philippines,” DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac told Super Radyo dzBB in Filipino.
Additionally, there are 178 Filipinos currently staying in shelters in Beirut amid the tensions in the Middle Eastern countries.
In total, 460 Filipinos have gone back to the Philippines along with their 28 dependents, since the repatriation efforts of the Philippine government started last year.
Alert Level 3 remains hoisted in Lebanon, meaning Filipinos there may repatriate voluntarily.
As this developed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Tuesday the idea of a ceasefire in Lebanon that would leave Hezbollah close to his country’s northern border, as the militant group threatened to widen its attacks.
Netanyahu’s comments came as the United States ramped up pressure over Israel’s conduct of the wars in Lebanon and Gaza, criticizing the recent bombing of Beirut and demanding that more aid reach the Palestinian territory.
In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu said he was “opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was,” according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu and the Israeli military have insisted there must be a buffer zone along Israel’s border with Lebanon where there is no presence of Hezbollah fighters.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu clarified that Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this (a buffer zone) and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping,” the statement said.
In a defiant televised speech, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said the only solution was a ceasefire while threatening to expand the scope of its missile strikes across Israel.
“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place” in Israel, he said. With GMA Integrated News
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