BY ASHZEL HACHERO and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday placed the Gaza Strip under Alert Level 3 which calls for voluntary repatriation of Filipinos.
“This means that the government is calling on Filipinos there to consider repatriation to Manila on a voluntary basis,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said.
The alert level is one notch lower in the four-tiered alert system used by the DFA. Alert Level 4 calls for mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in a certain country or territory.
There are 137 Filipinos in Gaza, mostly married to Palestinians.
On Wednesday, the DFA said 70 of them have requested repatriation to Manila.
Israel, meanwhile, was placed under Alert Level 2 on Wednesday.
There are some 30,500 Filipinos living and working in Israel, mostly in the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said 22 Filipinos in Israel have asked to be brought home.
“They come from the affected areas, in the southern part. They are 19 caregivers and 3 hotel workers,” said Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac, DMW officer-in-charge, said.
Under Alert Level 2, non-essential movements are restricted and Filipinos are told to avoid places of protests and other areas where people tend to congregate in large numbers, and prepare for a possible evacuation.
The raising of alert levels came amid intensifying Israeli aerial bombardment, and a possible ground invasion of the territory that is home to some 2.5 million Palestinians following the attack by the radical group Hamas last week Saturday.
Two Filipinos have been killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict while a third fatality is being verified.
President Marcos Jr. on Wednesday personally extended his condolences to the families of the fatalities and promised to provide them full government assistance.
“Last night, I made two of the most difficult phone calls I’ve had to make as President. The nation is one in grieving with the families of the Filipinos who were killed in the attacks on Israel. We will provide the utmost support to the families they were taken from,” the President said in a social media post yesterday.
Marcos also said the “tragedy will not deter our spirit. We will continue to stand for peace.”
One of the fatalities was described as a 33-year-old married female from Pangasinan, who has been working in Israel for six years while the other victim is a 42-year-old male from Pampanga.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum lauded identified the female fatality as nurse Angeline Aguirre who she died while caring for her elderly patient, Nira, in the Gaza Strip.
According to Nahoum, Angeline chose to remain at Nira’s side during the attack, resulting in both of them being killed by Hamas members.
The deputy mayor lauded Aguirre for her heroism.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided a P10,000 cash assistance to the families of two Filipinos, and committed to provide burial assistance.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the President assured the families of the fatalities the government will do everything to assist them, including the retrieval and repatriation of the bodies as soon as possible.
Marcos also said representatives of the victims can go with the government team to Tel-Aviv when they retrieve the bodies. He said they are still waiting for the go signal from the Israeli authorities.
The President also said no one had expected the situation in Israel would escalate. He reiterated his instructions to Ambassador to Israel Pedro Laylo Jr. to closely coordinate with the families of the two fatalities and provide them assistance.
Marcos also reiterated that the Philippines is working closely with Israeli officials to ensure the safety of the other OFWs and the rest of the Filipino community in the war-torn country.
‘MORE REPATRIATION’
Cacdac, in a hastily called press briefing, said the number of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) seeking repatriation is expected to increase.
“It will not stop with the 22. Definitely, our lines remain open. We are bracing ourselves for more repatriation,” he said.
With repatriation forthcoming, the government is also preparing assistance for the returning OFWs, including financial, livelihood, employment, and reintegration assistance.
Cacdac said the government is advising OFWs looking to be repatriated to seek permission from their employers.
“There must be at least a good understanding and agreement with their employers. This is so it will not be an adverse breakup of employment, and they can still be able to return once the situation improves,” he said.
Cacdac also said stories about the heroism of OFWs are “not a surprise.”
“Time and time again, our OFWs, in the health and human care sector most especially, have proven themselves worthy of their craft, worthy of their skills,” he said.
“It is a combination of technical skills and a big heart. That is the trademark of Filipino workers, especially in health and human care,” he added.
The acting DMW chief said it is more unsurprising as it happened in Israel.
“About 99 percent of OFWs there are caregivers. It is widespread in Israel to have the caring human touch of the Filipino caregiver,” said Cacdac.
DIFFICULTIES
Palestinian Ambassador to Manila Saleh Mohammad acknowledged the difficulty of repatriating Filipinos from Gaza Strip due to the ongoing bombardment.
However, Mohammad said his office will coordinate with local Palestinian authorities and the Philippine Embassy in Amman, Jordan for the safety and repatriation of the Filipinos in Gaza.
The embassy in Amman has concurrent jurisdiction over the Gaza Strip.
“They (Filipinos) are just like us. They are married to Palestinian citizens with their children. We can coordinate if they want to be repatriated individually or as a group, but unfortunately, you see the scenes of destruction from the Israeli warplanes, war machines,” Mohammad told GMA7’s Unang Balita yesterday.
“It is tragic and terrifying. There is no safe place in Gaza. It is a tiny strip of land and the most densely populated part on earth with more than two million Palestinians and most are refugees,” he added.
Earlier, Ambassador to Jordan Wilfredo Santos said his office is coordinating with its counterpart embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv to identify possible exit routes for Filipinos seeking repatriation from the Gaza Strip. He said part of the plan is for the Filipinos to go through an exit point beside Israel, while another option is through Egypt. — With Gerard Naval
