Press Release - Sen. Robin: Philippine 'Help' to Afghan Refugees Shows Filipinos' Compassionate nd Humane Nature

The aid extended by the Philippines to Afghan refugees - allowing a limited number of Afghan nationals to go to the Philippines while their US Special Immigrant Visas are being processed - is proof of the compassionate and humane nature of Filipinos.

Sen. Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla stressed this Wednesday night, in his manifestation before the Senate plenary on the matter.

"Sa atin pong kasaysayan, alam naman po natin na naging bukas na rin ang ating bansa sa mga migrants at refugees mula sa iba't-ibang bansa noon pang 1900s (In our history, our country has been open to migrants and refugees from various countries since the 1900s)," he said.

"Hindi po ito nakapagtataka sapagkat likas ang magiging mahabagin at matulungin nating mga Pilipino. Sang-ayon din po ito sa naunang polisiya noon ng dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. na nagwikang: 'We are actually a nation composed of many refugees,' noong inagurasyon po ng Philippine Refugee Processing Centre (PRPC) noong Enero 1980 (This is no surprise because Filipinos are helpful by nature. This is also in line with the pronouncement of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who at the inauguration of the Philippine Refugee Processing Centre in January 1980, said 'We are actually a nation composed of many refugees,'" he added.

Padilla noted the Philippines is part of the Coalition of the Willing and has a policy against terrorism - but considers refugees as allies and not enemies.

In 2023, he had supported the opening of Philippine borders for refugees seeking temporary shelter.

"Ang mga terorista at extremists po ang ating kalaban tulad ng Taliban. Ang mga refugees po na ating pinagbubuksan ay siya ring mga lumaban sa mga terorista at extremists sa Afghanistan (Our enemies are terrorists and extremists like the Taliban. The refugees we are allowing to come in have fought the terrorists and extremists in Afghanistan)," he said.

Meanwhile, Padilla called on the government to be lenient towards Palestinians with Filipino spouses who are being repatriated due to the conflict in Gaza.

Citing a Department of Foreign Affairs official, he said Palestinians who are spouses of Filipinas have the right to be with their