RP to send 2 patrol boats to Lebanon.

[empy]

But, please, feel free to criticize the critic who criticizes the critics who criticizes the government...

i would do that, but then somebody would criticize me as the critic who criticizes the critic who criticizes the critics who criticizes the government...

[nicolodeon]

i would do that, but then somebody would criticize me as the critic who criticizes the critic who criticizes the critics who criticizes the government...

...and we would end up as a community of critics that criticize the critic who criticize forum resident critics that in turn criticize those critics of our government.

[beachbum]

Your math is way off. Gov't reports that there are around 35,000 Pinoys in Lebanon. So using your calculation:

50k x 35,000 = 1,750,000,000 or 1.75billion

What I still wonder is that why a lot of mis-informed people still ask: 'Why just dont we send planes to get our people out?'

Simple answer:

Beirut Airport, the only airport out of Lebanon, was bombed to hell by the Israelis since day 1. The fuel tanks are bombed and the runway is cratered like Metro Manila's streets. The only aircraft capable of using it are military transports like the Hercules C130, and even then no one can get in because of the Israeli blockade. The only time Israel lifted the blockade was to let a UN-chartered Herc drop aid, and only for a short time.

So there you go, airlift (via military, civilian, Superman or Darna) is out of the question.

Any other geniuses out there with a bright idea?

how can it be way off.. the ships can only carry 600 people at one go. u mean they need to make 35000/600=59 x 2 = 118 trips just to carry them back. even if these ships will just fery this people to a transit point, maybe cyprus or any safer place, it will take them days to do it.

if this is the case, you still need to charter planes to send them back.

bakit hindi na lang magcharter ng ship from nearby mideast to reduce the taxes and fuel from travelling from phil to lebanon. ubos na ang pera at oras papunta pa lang mideast.

[swordsman]

...and we would end up as a community of critics that criticize the critic who criticize forum resident critics that in turn criticize those critics of our government.

... in short, we'd end up like an anal-retentive community?

[KoKoNAT]

how can it be way off.. the ships can only carry 600 people at one go. u mean they need to make 35000/600=59 x 2 = 118 trips just to carry them back. even if these ships will just fery this people to a transit point, maybe cyprus or any safer place, it will take them days to do it.

if this is the case, you still need to charter planes to send them back.

bakit hindi na lang magcharter ng ship from nearby mideast to reduce the taxes and fuel from travelling from phil to lebanon. ubos na ang pera at oras papunta pa lang mideast.

BINGO! You, Sir, have just offered the solution what others have failed to comprehend.

The plan was to bring those 35,000 Pinoys out of Lebanon via ship into a transit point like Cyprus (as it is closest) then fly them out of there via chartered airplanes.

Why not by airplane? (See above post why)

Why not by land through Syria?
Because Israel has also bombed out every major road and bridge out of Beirut that leads to Syria. And Israel continues to bomb those roads regularly as Israel accuses Syria of supplying Hezbollah with the rockets they lob to Israel. So via road is out because there are no roads and not to mention extremely dangerous. Who do you think will get criticized if there are news that a convoy of Pinoys got killed because they were 'mistaken' for Hezbollah?

That left the sea option. Prior to the Greek tycoon's offer, with only PHP300M to transport 35,000 Pinoys not just out of Lebanon and into Cyprus but also out of Cyprus to Manila, chartering Mediterranean ferries has become prohibitively costly. These operators are businessmen after all and have obviously taken advantage of the situation to make a profit. And they have, as far more richer countries than us (like the UK, US and Australia) have paid much more to transport much less people out to Cyprus.

That means it is up to us to transport those Pinoys out of Lebanon into Cyprus ourselves. With a PHP90M (or around USD1.75M) budget for fuel, toll and consumables, the job was given to the PCG as they are better equipped to handle the situation than the PN. The rest of the PHP300M would probably be used to charter planes out of Cyprus into the Philippines.

Now you can see why the Greek tycoon's offer is literally a God-sent to us. Not only has he pledged his own ship to transport those 35,000 Pinoys out of Beirut and into Cyprus, he has also pledged USD2M of his own money to hire more boats to get our people out faster. With his clout and money, I have no doubt we have the best solution so far.

So Kudos to Mr. Antonio Antonious and his humanitarian effort.

[swordsman]

BINGO! You, Sir, have just offered the solution what others have failed to comprehend.

you got your genius sir sayang, sama-sama tayo sa 'others'...

ALTHOUGH, that option of chartering a ship has been explored(by DFA if i remember) and has been in TV Patrol(even before this thread was started), which is the basis why the Coast Guard option was put in hold...and the basis of some criticisms here :starwars:

[nicolodeon]

Mr. Antonio Antonous would be talking to the large Greek shipping owners that have Filipino crews to provide assistance and ask them to shoulder the expenses. If the ship owners would help out but would not shoulder the expenses, Mr. Antonous offered to foot the bill lock, stock and barrel.

However, the government is currently..."cool" to this idea (according to a friend of mine who is with one of the government agencies involved in the planning) but it doesn't mean that the goverment won't/didn't give serious consideraton to the offer.

The longer and the grimmer this Israel-Lebanon crisis escalates, the worse it would get for our countrymen who are there and it would be more difficult for our government to get them out.

Whether your a critic or not of any government, PCG, Navy, Boy Scout or what-have-you proposal, the bottom line is that those sombbody needs to ac t and act soon before it's too late.

[boybi]

However, the government is currently..."cool" to this idea (according to a friend of mine who is with one of the government agencies involved in the planning) but it doesn't mean that the goverment won't/didn't give serious consideraton to the offer.

why is the government just 'cool' with this idea? is mr antonous asking for anything in return for helping the OFWs in lebanon?

[Monseratto]

why is the government just 'cool' with this idea? is mr antonous asking for anything in return for helping the OFWs in lebanon?

Wala atang lokal politico makakuha ng political mileage kung tinuloy 'to. May gusto atang sumabit dito

OT:Mga Hudyo parang wala silang tolerance sa mga kalaban at wala paki sino madamay. First and only concern is themselves. Kaya madaming galit sa kanila, pati yung kanilang proxies nadamay.

[Isuzoom]

Pahiya naman politiko natin at di na sila maka money.