DFA renews call to Filipinos in Lebanon to come home

THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has appealed to all Filipinos in Lebanon to avail of the government’s voluntary repatriation program as tensions in the country continue to escalate.

In an interview on Thursday, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said there is no guarantee that Lebanon will always be safe with the current situation.

“Nanawagan kami sa mga Filipinos ngayon, tulad nung panawagan ng embassy na umuwi (We appeal to the Filipinos, like the call of the embassy, is for them to go home),” de Vega said.

He said there are over 17,000 Filipinos in Lebanon but only 293 have been repatriated so far.

There are 561 pending repatriation applications.

Lebanon is currently placed under Alert Level 3, which calls for Filipinos to voluntarily evacuate the country.

The country continues to be impacted by the current hostilities with daily exchanges of fire across the country’s southern border.

Since the hostilities broke out in the south of Lebanon in October 2023, almost 100,000 civilians have had to flee their homes because of Israeli bombardment.

De Vega said the position of surrounding countries is to evacuate foreign residents.

“(The) position of surrounding government including Cyprus, if you’re going to require our help para kung saan sila dadaan repatriate them now habang may (as to where they would safely pass is to repatriate them now while there are still) commercial flights,” he said.

He said the Philippine government hopes that tension in Lebanon would deescalate, and that diplomacy prevails.

“Ang punto dyan, lahat ng decision ng Philippine government tungkol sa mga alert level para din sa kabutihan ng ating mga kababayan (The point here is, aal the decision of the Philippine government on the alert levels is for the welfare and safety of the Filipinos in the area”, de Vega said.  (Marita Moaje)