Govt reestablishes contact with some Pinoys in Gaza

THE Philippine Embassy in Jordan yesterday said it was able to reach out to 87 Filipinos out of the 136 in the Gaza Strip following Internet and communications blackout that started last Friday as Israeli bombardment further intensified.

“We lost contact with them last Friday due to the telecommunications blackout but starting at 4 a.m. Sunday, our Embassy in Amman MalayaNEWS was able to reach out to them,” Ambassador Wilfredo Santos Jr. said in a report to the main office of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.

“We were able to contact 87 Filipinos, including 57 in Rafah. Forty-nine Filipinos remain unreachable for now but we continue to get in touch with them,” he added.

Santos said while the food supply of the 49 Filipinos is sufficient for now, access to water is becoming increasingly difficult in the besieged enclave that is home to more than two million Palestinians.

But he said most of the 49 are not in Gaza City but in other areas of Gaza.

“There are only nine Filipino nationals now in Gaza City. Three, including a nun, who decided to stay and an additional six who returned from the south a few days ago due to lack of space in their quarters,” Santos said.

The Filipino nun is among those caring for 800 Palestinians who have taken shelter in a church amid the Israeli-Hamas war.

Santos last week said the 136 Filipinos in Gaza were accounted for and waiting to be repatriated.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said the embassy is prepared to bring Filipinos out of Gaza, including those waiting at the Rafah border crossing. De Vega said they are just waiting for Egyptian authorities to open the border crossing.

The crossing was opened last Friday, but only to trucks bringing aid into Gaza. Yesterday, 10 more trucks carrying food and medical supplies were allowed into Gaza.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the new phase of Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7 attack, which has left over 1,400 Israelis dead, include ground, naval, and air attacks.

Netanyahu said the operations will further intensify, with the Jewish state vowing to eliminate Hamas.

The DFA has placed Gaza under Alert Level 4, which means