Libya repatriation: Gov’t action ‘too little, too late’

**chua_riwap** · February 28th, 2011 10:52 PM

Sabi nga ng isang OFW na nag-walkout sa OWWA:

"Ang kumpanya namin ang nagbayad sa tiket namin, at hindi ang OWWA. Bakit parang lumalabas na sila ang tumulong sa amin?"

"Pag lapag namin sa NAIA, all that OWWA can give us is a ball cap"

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquire...ittle-too-late

MANILA, Philippines—The government may have acted “too little, too late” in evacuating thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) out of troubled Libya, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said Sunday.

Zubiri observed that while its Asian neighbors had pulled out their nationals in the past two weeks, the Philippines had yet to organize a concrete, singular plan of action for the evacuation of thousands of Filipinos.

“It’s still chaotic for our OFWs. They have no clue where they’re supposed to go,” he said in an interview. “If we judge the response of our nation, compared with its Southeast Asian neighbors, we’re too little too late.”

Citing media reports, Zubiri said it was pitiful that the only assistance that government could give to distressed Filipinos were bus tickets to a nearby country in the early weeks of the unrest.

The first batch of displaced OFWs flew home on Saturday through the efforts of their employers, apprehensive about the fate of the thousands of their compatriots still in Libya that is wracked by protests against leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Zubiri wondered if the government had drawn up a concrete “plan of action” to repatriate the rest of the Filipinos, and if it had, who was the official in charge of this.

“What’s taking them too long to send a crisis team in the Middle East, and release more funds for the repatriation of the OFWs? OFWs are coming in in trickles. About time we try to sit down to draft a plan of action if the fighting escalates in Libya,” he said.

Who’s in charge?

By this time, the government should have designated an official in charge of the evacuation plan in the Middle East, instead of embassy officials implementing “small plans of action on the ground,” the senator said.

“We’re at a loss. Is it (Undersecretary) Esteban Conejos? Is it Secretary Albert del Rosario? Is it Vice President Jejomar Binay? Who’s the go-to guy in charge of the plan of action if trouble escalates in the Middle East? There’s no man in charge, and the plans of action are disparate,” he said.

Del Rosario quietly flew Friday night for Tunisia, joining Conejos, purportedly to oversee the repatriation of Filipino workers from Libya.

Stranded Filipinos

In Baguio City, Grail Tayab said her husband Dexter, a surveyor for an oil company in Libya, had called from an unspecified place at the border with Egypt after he was rescued by a diplomatic mission, along with 91 other Filipinos, at the Az-Zuwaytinah Terminal Tank Farm.

“He and his fellow workers were let off at the arrival area near the Egyptian border and discovered there were already 300 Filipinos stranded there. Many complained about being robbed,” she said.

Tayab said only one Philippine government representative was processing travel documents that could delay onward travel to Cairo to await a flight to Manila. “The process could take even longer,” she said.

She said her husband told her that the Filipinos were told it was uncertain if a bus would be available to bring them to Cairo.

“Their Thai colleagues were able to take the bus to Cairo already but the Filipinos are still stuck there. They were left there,” Tayab said in Filipino.

Food, blankets needed

“They have requested us, their families back home, to let the government know that if they need to stay there for a few more days, they should be supplied with food and blankets. The nights there are freezing and many of them are old. Only a few have the means to take care of themselves and they have no place to go to buy supplies,” Tayab said.

Even so, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III did not think that the government had been sluggish in moving Filipinos out of Libya.

“I don’t find it slow. I can understand the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) and the executive department. They have to do a tough balancing act in order to make sure that they preserve the safety of Filipinos without necessarily hurting international ties with any of the other countries that are in turmoil,” he said in an interview.

Emergency powers

Sen. Ralph Recto, for his part, ruled out granting President Benigno Aquino III emergency powers to deal with the repatriation of Filipinos and oil price increases in the light of the crisis in the Middle East.

He said Mr. Aquino has ample resources and power to deal with the situation.

Recto said savings from interest payments on debt after the peso appreciated to P43 to a dollar, up from the P46-P48 assumed rate when the 2011 national budget was passed, among others, could be used to finance the repatriation of Filipinos.

“Resources are adequate. There’s no need for emergency powers,” he said.

He added that the government was not helpless against oil price increases. He said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas could raise interest rates to curb inflation and strengthen the peso.

Recto also said that the Department of Energy should also keep in check the “greed” of oil companies and ensure that oil products are based on 30-

**Monseratto** · February 28th, 2011 11:18 PM

Imagine a headless chicken running around in circles. That's how PNoy's DFA seems to be doing...

**oliver1013** · March 1st, 2011 12:26 AM

Last week kasi sabi sa news i eevacuate na dapat, tapos andaming nagreklamo kesyo ayaw daw umuwi kasi pag umuwi daw sila, wala daw mapapala dito.

Another case of Sala sa init sala sa lamig

**ab_initio** · March 1st, 2011 12:40 AM

^^ it seems that mas traumatic umuwi dito and out of job kesa manatili dun.

pero, i don't get the rationale of OWWA distributing caps. why?

**chua_riwap** · March 1st, 2011 12:59 AM

Originally Posted by ab_initio

^^ it seems that mas traumatic umuwi dito and out of job kesa manatili dun.

pero, i don't get the rationale of OWWA distributing caps. why?

Yun lang kaya nilang ibigay.....

Kaming mga OFWs are paying around P1,700+ for a 2 yr membership sa POEA. Tapos ganyan ang treatment ang nakukuha ng mga OFWs? Bagal nila kumilos!

**hondaboot** · March 1st, 2011 02:03 AM

what does the cap say

**uls** · March 1st, 2011 11:15 PM

there are over 20,000 OFWs in Libya

to get out of Libya by land, they have to travel west to Tunisia or east to Egypt

the number of OFWs repatriated is very small

there are probably thousands of OFWs at the Tunisia-Libya and Egypt-Libya borders right now

and thousands more on the way to the borders

and thousands still trapped in Tripoli

food import and distribution in Libya has been disrupted for several days na

there is already food shortage in Libya

we're gonna hear a lot of horror stories from OFWs in the coming days

**chua_riwap** · March 2nd, 2011 05:09 AM

Pataasan pala ng bidding sa mga vehicles, talo lagi ang Pinas sa bansang may pera.........

Kaya kawawa mga kabayans natin.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03...-exodus-ordeal

When del Rosario’s team reached the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli, they immediately organized a convoy of 40 vans and buses to bring some 400 OFWs to the Tunisian border.

He said they had a hard time renting bigger buses to drive the OFWs to the border because they were outbid by other countries. Also, travelling overland was not easy. The team had to pass through about 20 checkpoints manned by either government or anti-government forces.

“There were about 20 checkpoints and as we approach these checkpoints I would say "Ok smile!" Let's see if we can get through this by smiling. We said we would utilize smile diplomacy,” he said.

The DFA secretary also told media the different means of transportation they planned to tap to get Filipinos out of Libya.

“We have studied the possibility of landing a plane to Tripoli but the airport closed up. In addition to that, we understood that the United Nations had imposed a no fly zone in Libya. We didn’t get the details on that until much later,” he said.

They also attempted to get a ship much earlier but other countries beat them to it by outbidding them.

"Each time that we would be at that point where we would finalize the contract of the ship, we would lose it for some reason. I think it is being sold to the highest bidder. Situation was such that we were being outbid by any other countries looking to get out as well,” he said.

The Philippine embassy in Greece was finally able to charter a ship, the Ionian Queen, to repatriate Filipinos from Libya.

The ship will transport Filipinos to the Island of Crete where a DFA crisis team will be waiting for them.

Del Rosario said they had to make do with little resources compared to other countries like Britain and the United States that have warships and use military aircraft to airlift their people.

The DFA chief, meanwhile, said they have a problem repatriating 6,000 Pinoy nurses in Libya because an order was reportedly released requiring health workers to stay in hospitals.

He said nurses on leave were able to go with the DFA team.

Del Rosario also advised OFWs to go to evacuation areas in Tripoli.

Del Rosario admitted that the government’s resources are limited but he believes that they still have a good working relationship in Libya.

“To begin with, our resources are so limited. I went there just to be sure that our strategy of protecting the overseas workers wasn’t late. We looked at possibilities. I think we have good working relations there,” Del Rosario said.

Del Rosario also defended the DFA from several criticisms it received from various sectors of society.

“I am not saying we have a perfect strategy there. We don’t. But we are trying to do our best,” del Rosario said in a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

**tidus1203** · March 2nd, 2011 08:05 AM

Survival of the fittest again in demonstration. Better be a FIRST WORLD citizen then...

**CVT** · March 2nd, 2011 08:12 AM

Oh wow! With such big number of OFWs in Libya(~20K) and no traceability where each and everyone is located... To each his own ang magiging labanan niyan in the end....

Gamitan na ng text brigade, kung nasa kanila pa ang cellphone....

12.4K:knit: