MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered on Wednesday the evacuation of Filipinos in Lebanon as the Philippine government braced for an escalation of tensions in the region amid Israel\u2019s invasion and increasing bombardment of civilian sites.<\/p>\n
More than 11,000 Filipinos are living and working in Lebanon, which has faced a string of Israeli attacks that began in mid-September, with pagers exploding at shops and hospitals across the country, followed by relentless bombing targeting densely populated areas.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces have killed more than 2,000 people across Lebanon and wounded over 9,800, according to Lebanon\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n
The UN estimates that over 1.2 million people across Lebanon have been displaced by escalating Israeli attacks, which include airstrikes and an expanding ground invasion that began on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Israel\u2019s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon could face destruction \u201clike Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manila has so far evacuated at least 511 Filipinos, while around 1,000 who have applied for repatriation with the Philippine Embassy in Beirut are still waiting for the government to bring them to safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now going to evacuate our people by whatever means \u2014 by air, or by sea,\u201d Marcos said during a virtual meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The meeting was attended by heads of key government agencies, including Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust make all the preparations so assets will be nearby. If we charter a ship, then it will be near Beirut so once the embassy gives us the clearance and they say that our people can go, we can bring them out as soon as possible,\u201d Marcos said.<\/p>\n
The government has yet to determine the method of evacuation due to the \u201cevolving situation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Manila has placed Lebanon under its \u201cAlert Level 3\u201d since last October, which calls for Filipinos there to voluntarily return home.<\/p>\n
In the last few weeks, Filipino workers in Lebanon have been urging the Philippine government to speed up their repatriation amid deadly Israeli attacks escalating in the region.<\/p>\n
But many are facing legal difficulties to do so, including permission from employers and official clearance to leave.<\/p>\n
Teodoro told Marcos that the government is prepared to evacuate Filipinos but are waiting for the Lebanese government to give them clearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re ready, willing and able (to repatriate Filipinos) at any time. We\u2019re just waiting for the diplomatic clearances of the expatriates to be processed out of Beirut,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANILA: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered on Wednesday the evacuation of Filipinos in Lebanon as the Philippine government braced for an escalation of tensions in the region amid Israel\u2019s invasion and increasing bombardment of civilian sites. More than 11,000 Filipinos are living and working in Lebanon, which has faced a string of Israeli attacks that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-436289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n