Should all OFW's in Lebanon be evacuated?

[wanderlust]

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heres the news: OWWA releases $6m for evacuation

THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has allocated $6 million (about P300 million) more to bring home Filipino workers trapped in war-torn Lebanon, an official said yesterday.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion said the amount would add to the $4 million (P200 million) that the agency had released earlier for the same purpose.

He said about $2 million had already been spent to send home Filipinos caught in the fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.
...

So there, meron naman palang pondo na nilaan for the evacuation of OFWs from Lebanon. Our leaders should work together to weather this crisis instead of bickering and mudslinging.

Why doesn't everyone pray instead for the safety of our fellow Filipinos.

[baruto]

op kors...alangan man lagi ug cla pa ang motud sa mga tanke de gira ug mosagang sa mga missiles...ahak.. papaulia na tawn kalouy pud

[wanderlust]

Apparently, the issue about there being no funds was a mere miscommunication between the authorities. Bicharra claimed that there were no funds for the evacuation when he knew perfectly well that the funds were already on the way and that he himself already sent someone to get the funds.

[wak_wak]

gamay nalang daw na bilin sa Lebanon evacuation center, good job

[baron]

President Arroyo ordered for the immediate evacuation of Filipinos in Lebanon as the conflict heightened in the area. She also allocated 1billion fund for their evacuation. With that, I don't think there would be questions for the non- availability of funds for the evacuation of our OFWs there.

Otherwise, we can very well realize that such idea was just a baseless accusation of those who wanted to taint the image of this administration.

[klavel]

they should come back home (Phils.) knowing the dangerous situation going on there...i have read an article about OFWs experiences and their delight of finally escaping from rude Lebanese employers and then some (OFWs), refuse to go home for the reason of no jobs waiting once in Philippine soil..obviously, everyone has their reasons..the bad thing is that they put the blame to OWWA, their agencies or generally, to the phil. government...hello! war is a fortuitous event, so anything can really happen anywhere...at least there should be a 'fund' implemented by their respective agencies for events like this..

[edgeknife]

for our countrymen's safety, they must get out from Lebanon as soonest as possible. go elsewhere basta ayaw lang sa lebanon og iraq.

[pridi]

naa man sad uban nga dili ganahan mo uli ug pinas kay mga TNT man... walay klarong documents nga naka work cla sa Lebanon.... hahay, mga tawhana jud....

[baron]

The Philippine Coast Guard sent two ships for our Filipino workers there. As much as the conflict continues to rise in the area, they need to find other routes to ensure the safety of our OFWs. This is just an added reinforcement of the government together with its efforts to provide sea and air arrangements to find escape routes amidst the bombings.

It seems that government is adamant in its efforts in ensuring that our OFWs will be back in their homeland. Unlike others who are just busy grandstanding on their own, sitting idly in their senatorial chairs.

[grabehbebe]

OFWs start streaming into Cyprus

At least 70 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are now out of the war zone in Beirut, Lebanon and safely in Cyprus, but consular officials in Cyprus are hard- pressed to help them for lack of funds.

OFWs fleeing the war-torn Lebanese capital of Beirut are streaming into neighboring Cyprus, where the Philippines has no embassy and consular officials are struggling with a lack of funds.

Domestic helper Brylyn Ecoy, 26, who fled to Cyprus from Beirut and was repatriated via a regular commercial Gulf Air flight last Friday afternoon, said she saw many OFWs from Beirut, about 70 of them by her count, who had also escaped the violence of the daily bombings in the Lebanese capital and who were being given shelter by consular officials in Cyprus.

Ecoy, a single mother of a one-year-old daughter and resident of Bacolod City, was unfortunate enough to have arrived in Beirut from Manila to work as a domestic helper on July 11, a mere four days before the Israeli military began bombing Beirut, triggering a

mass evacuation of foreigners out of Lebanon.

She said her Lebanese employers, a married couple, took her with them when they fled Beirut and crossed the border to Cyprus, but when they got to the Cyprus’ Larnaka port on July 22, her employers disappeared leaving her alone in a strange land and with no money to boot.

Ecoy said a kindly old Cypriot lady named Anna came to her aid and gave her shelter until she was able to contact the Philippine consulate there.

She said Anna had been planning to hire her as a domestic helper, but Anna changed her mind upon learning that there will be great difficulty in getting Ecoy a visa.

At the Philippine consulate, where she was given assistance by honorary consul Vantola Constantinedes, Ecoy said she learned there was much difficulty in finding homeward passage for her because of a lack of funds.

Ecoy said she was only able to head home when Constantinedes reached into her own pocket to buy airline tickets for her while awaiting funding from he Philippines.

"(Constantinedes) advanced the money for my plane ticket," Ecoy told airport reporters in Filipino. "I was asked to sign a document that stated (Constantinedes) paid for my ticket so she could reimburse the money when the funds reach them."

While awaiting passage home, Ecoy said she was also given shelter by a Filipino couple in Cyrus, whom she only identified as Rex and Anna.

"Nagtutulungan naman ang mga Pilipino doon. Mababait sila sa mga katulad kong nakatakas sa Lebanon (The Filipinos there are helping each other. They are good to those of us who fled from Lebanon)," Ecoy said.

She aired a call for the Philippine government to help Philippine consular officials in Cyprus who are hard pressed yet are working to help OFWs evacuated out of Beirut through Cyprus.

"Sana tulungan ng gobyerno yung mga opisyal natin doon na tumutulong sa mga OFWs na galing ng Beirut dahil kailangan talaga nila ng pera (We hope the government will help the officials there who are assisting OFWs fleeing from Beirut because they really need money)," Ecoy said.

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200608070402.htm