RP reorganizes teams in Lebanon despite cease-fire - Malaya 08.17.2006

THE Philippine government amended its action plan and reorganized its rescue teams in Beirut to ensure that they would be able to get all overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) out of Lebanon despite the declaration of a ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah forces.

Foreign Affairs undersecretary for migrant workers Esteban Conejos Jr. said five teams have been formed to oversee the evacuation and repatriation of OFWs and to ensure that the six-point action plan drawn up by the government will be implemented.

Conejos said the action plan includes sending out roving rescue teams deep into southern Lebanon especially in Tyre and Sidon which had been inaccessible due to previous ground fighting; and the sending out of similar teams to the Bekaa Valley, the stronghold of the Hezbollah forces, which has been heavily bombed in the past month.

The five teams are codenamed Team Beirut, Team Tripoli, Team Sidon, Team Zahlé, and Team Syria composed of foreign service officers, labor attachés and welfare officers who would oversee the implementation of the action plan.

Philippine ambassador to Lebanon Al Francis Bichara would head Team Beirut and Team Tripoli which will scour and evacuate OFWs in Beirut and nearby suburbs, and in Tripoli and the northern part of Lebanon respectively.

Special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu chairs Team Sidon which oversees the evacuation in the southern part of Lebanon like Tyre and Sidon, and Team Zahlé which oversee the operations in the Bekaa Valley including the cities of Zahlé and Baalbeck. Cimatu is assisted by Philippine ambassador to Kuwait Eric Endaya.

At least 300 OFWs are believed to be in Sidon and a couple of hundreds in Tyre while some 1,000 to 2,000 Filipinos are believed to have worked in the Bekaa Valley.

Team Syria is headed by foreign undersecretary Rafael Seguis who has also been named as overall coordinator in the ground. Seguis is assisted by Philippine ambassador to Baghdad Willie Cuyugan. Their team will oversee the repatriation of OFWs from Damascus.

Conejos said that despite President Arroyo’s directive to get all the remaining OFWs out, the final decision on whether to stay or go home would still be with the OFW. "The role of government is to be there, ready, willing and able to assist him if he decides to go," he said.

He said it is Congress’ call if it would pass a law making it mandatory for OFWs to follow a presidential order for mass evacuation in such a situation.

The Philippine government had to resort to a massive information campaign in Lebanon after some OFWs refused to heed the mass evacuation order of Arroyo issued on August 2. The OFWs either refused to go on their own citing that they feel safe and prefer to wait out the war while some are barred by their employers from leaving.

Some 450 more OFWs arrived around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in Manila bringing the total of Lebanon returnees to 5,548.

Conejos said this is the 40th flight that carried OFWs out of Damacsus, where they were temporarily housed after evacuation from Lebanon started on July 20, or about a week after the first bombs fell in Lebanon on July 12. The first batch of OFWs arrived in Manila on July 23.

"We have not had a single day wherein we were not able to move our OFWs from Beirut to Damascus and Damacus down to the Philippines," he said dismissing a failing grade given by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ committee on migrant affairs.

Conejos said he does not know where the CBCP based its conclusion "but the fact of the matter is, one week after the start of this conflict, we were among the first countries to start.. our evacuation."

"In fact I think IOM, International Organization of Migration, was quoted as saying that among all the countries in Lebanon, the Philippines is one of the best in terms of the evacuations that we have conducted so I would rather that I respond to that conclusion by the CBCP with facts and figures which I just enumerated," he said.

He, however, admitted that the IOM which he described as the counterpart of the International Red Cross in migration, had been able to fly out more OFWs than the Philippine government as it uses a bigger airbus.

Conejos also dismissed criticisms after the government sought international assistance from the IOM and countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain. He said it is a normal international practice.

He added that the government is prepared to make public all its accounting books once the operation is over.

As to the statement of Senator Joker Arroyo that due to the government’s dependence on the IOM, they might not pass the additional P500 million standby fund for the Lebanon operation that the government included in the proposed supplemental budget, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said "It’s a matter of need."

Ermita said the evacuation had not been halted despite the ceasefire especially since "the violation of the ceasefire in that part of the world is much more the rule than exception." He added that he would not be surprised, that there might be some violation of the United Nations initiated ceasefire.

The Senate failed to act on the proposed P500 million standby fund yesterday after Sen. Franklin Drilon cancelled the scheduled hearing on House Bill 5679 which contains the P500-million appropriation passed by the Lower House Monday night.

The notice of cancellation was posted 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. The Senate holds sessions up to Wednesdays only.

OWWA administrator Marianito Roque, who rushed to the Senate to attend the aborted hearing, expressed disappointment at the hearing’s last-minute cancellation considering the amount of work still to be done. He said P170 million of OWWA funds had already been spent for the evacuation operations and they will continue to use OWWA money until the standby fund is approved. – Jocelyn Montemayor with Dennis Gadil