War in Lebanon

By JONATHAN VICENTE, The Manila Times Reporter

The government can only afford to evacuate the Filipinos trapped in strife-torn Lebanon by land, a more dangerous option than bringing them out by sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is looking for buses and trucks to ferry the Filipinos wishing to leave Lebanon to neighboring Syria, Assistant Secretary Gilbert Asuque, DFA spokesman, said Tuesday.

Records showed 30,000 Filipinos are working and living in Lebanon, many of whom want to get out before the conflict escalates.

Asuque said the Philippine Embassy in Beirut has suggested chartering a ship to take the Filipinos to Cyprus.

He said evacuation by sea is safer than by land. Presidential Chief of Staff Mike Defensor said, however, that the sea passage would cost more, and the government has to work within a budget of $500,000.

The fare for each Filipino would be $300 to $400, Defensor said.

He acknowledged that evacuating the Filipinos by land was riskier.

What’s more, only 100 people could be evacuated by land at a time, Defensor said.

Asuque said Manila is negotiating with the warring sides in Lebanon to grant the vehicles ferrying Filipinos safe passage.

Ambassador Roy Cimatu, special envoy for the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Team, is going to Cyprus to look for a ship they can charter, Asuque said.

Defensor said the suggestion to use Philippine Air Force C-130 transport planes to fetch the Filipinos was also turned down because the government will have to spend P280,000 for every hour of flight at 100 persons for every trip.

Evacuation must be made soon

Asuque said whatever the route Manila decides, the evacuation has to be made in the next few days because the embassy in Lebanon was preparing to raise the alert level to four, the highest degree of emergency.

He said about 120 Filipinos facing immigration cases in Lebanon and who are now at the Miraculous Medal Church in Beirut, about eight kilometers from the Philippine Embassy, could be the first to leave.

Some Filipino workers face a problem with their travel documents, having been left behind by their Lebanese employers who fled without giving them back their passports.

Defensor said abandoned Filipino workers were advised to proceed to any of the three churches in Beirut’s Christian district designated as relocation areas.

Lenard Ayo, who has been working as a cook for 14 years in a Japanese restaurant in Beirut, bore out the problem.

He said among the immediate concern of the Filipinos in Lebanon is their passports.

Interviewed over radio station DZMM Tuesday, Ayo is worried that his continued stay in Beirut could be jeopardized in the absence of his passport.

Embassy could not be contacted

He also expressed dismay that Filipino workers in Lebanon could not contact any of the consulate and embassy officials because the embassy has only two telephone lines, which are always busy.

Asuque said 120 Filipinos were staying at the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Church, which is run by a Filipino priest.

Speaker Jose de Venecia said he was working on a plan to move Filipinos to northern Beirut in the seat of the Maronite Catholic Church under Cardinal Mar Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Bkerki.

Sfeir is a member of the College of the Cardinals and heads the 900,000-member Maronite Catholic Church.

De Venecia worked throughout Monday to put in place the contingency plan to relocate as many as 10,000 Filipinos to Bkerki.

“This contingency plan is to evacuate our OFWs and their families to the high mountains in northern Beirut, instead of evacuation under the most dangerous condition by air, which is impossible, or by sea to Cyprus,” de Venecia said.

The safest way

“This plan is the safest route of evacuation at no cost to the government,” he said.

De Venecia said the road from Beirut to Syria is dangerous because it goes through the Bekaa Valley, which is “dangerously exposed” to rocket attacks, while the route from Beirut to Cyprus is a six-hour voyage by sea that is “extremely dangerous.”

The Saint Joseph Church and other Catholic churches in Beirut could not accommodate all Filipinos seeking refuge from the fighting, he added.

The DFA said almost all of the 34,000 documented Filipinos in Lebanon are working in the households of Maronite Christians in Beirut.

De Venecia’s evacuation plan was done upon consultations with Vice-President Noli de Castro and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

De Venecia noted the evacuation plan could be activated, while the Western powers and international agencies like the Red Cross and Red Crescent could carry out emergency plans to rescue foreigners trapped in the fresh fighting that has already claimed more than 200 lives in south Beirut.

With Sam Mediavilla and Maricel V. Cruz

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MGA USMAK NA LIDER,TIPAKI NA SO MGA NA CORRUPT NINDO!!!!

pagmati ko si bichara ang ginibong ambassador sa lebanon ta lebanese baga ang mga bichara. herak man ang mga tugang ta diyan ta giyera na naman. pero mapondo man giraray ang iriwal diyan pag dakol na ang gadan. tapos mga pirang taon, maporoon na naman. dai na nag-orontok. kung ako yaon diyan, ma-iskusar na ako nin mababalyohan sa mga toninong na lugar arog kan uae, dubai, qatar.

Hay salamat ta dai ako inabutan ning war sa lebanon, pero si duma me pang engineer nawalat pa duman pati duwang karpentero. si pig gibo ming mall dikitan pa daang tamaan. dakol kita duman mga kababayan na may mga kaso na gusto naman makauli.kung mapadara si ate glo ning eroplano para kuanon sinda, chance na ini ninda na maka uli.magayon talagang lugar ang lebanon kaya pig aaragawan kan mga kataning na bansa,pero kadakulang kan mga kababayan ta duman nag titios talaga sa mga amo ninda, mala ngani tasi mga nakasabay me sa airport na mga babae(mostly maid)siguro mga 15 sinda, 3 lang ang mayong tama sa hawak.igwa ning pig plansa sa likod, igwa ning binugbog ang grabe so pig rape.pabaya talaga ang mga opisyalis ta duman.

Manay Rose, kaya man palan niyako todokon nang-gad sa boot mo ang saimong mga journals/postings ta naka experience ka na palan na yaon sa war-zone (naka-aguing Gulf war). Makatakoton baga talaga, garo na ngane kamposantongdaeng celebrasyonsu atmosphere ka-idto, na puro gabos nasa accomodation sana nag lilimok-limok.
Tama ka tabi, na sana matawan ang kadaklan ki disenteng trabaho, na kung saen man, su mga tawo, aware man kan saidang contribusyon sa komunidad (paying taxes) tapos maguing conscious man sinda na dae na mag-para-aki pa kung dae ng ipapakaon. Saka naman ang pro-creation kun kayang sustenaran kan mag-agom.
Kaya lang, su pondo man para sa mga munisipyo, si-siba siba man kan mga unason. Makayuyogto!