OFWs coming home Monday
The first batch of Filipinos fleeing the war in Israel will head for home on Oct. 16, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said, as it confirmed a third Filipino casualty Friday.
The third Filipino killed in the surprise attack by Hamas on Saturday was a 49-year-old woman from Negros Occidental, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said. Like the first two Filipino casualties, she too was a caregiver.
De Vega added that she was attending the music festival where Hamas gunmen slaughtered 260 civilians.
The most pressing concern at the moment, De Vega said, were the 131 Filipinos trapped in Gaza, which has been completely sealed off by Israeli troops who are bombarding Hamas targets in retaliation for Saturday’s attack.
Israel has imposed a total blockade on the Palestinian enclave and looks poised to launch a ground invasion on Gaza.
“[President Marcos] said that the immediate concern is repatriation, but nobody right now can get in or out of Gaza… so, repatriation, of course, is not yet possible at this time,” De Vega said.
De Vega said the government is waiting for the humanitarian corridors to open to allow the safe passage of humanitarian aid and refugees.
“This is a diplomatic initiative. We are in touch with other governments in the region. Of course, the United Nations will hold a session today, the United Nations Security Council and we expect them to call for a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave,” he said.
The government is exhausting all diplomatic initiatives to bring Filipinos home safe, he said.
De Vega said about 92 Filipinos who are trapped in Gaza want to be repatriated.
The Philippine embassies in Egypt and Jordan are now preparing for the repatriation of Filipinos in Gaza, with its officials already on the border to assist them once the humanitarian corridor opens.
But still, there is no guarantee that Filipinos and other nationalities would be given smooth entry into Egypt from Gaza, De Vega said.
“They may also wait one day, two days, three days, like what happened in Sudan. So, we’re counting on the UN—and, of course, there will not just be Filipinos; there will be other nationalities as well. Of course, we have to
