Metro Manila, Philippines – Filipinos are far from the conflict area in Lebanon as tensions heat up between Israel and Hezbollah, a foreign affairs official said on Monday, Aug. 19.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said most of the 11,000 Filipinos are in the capital Beirut and the northern parts of the Middle Eastern country, far from the tension-filled southern border.
A Filipino medical professional is safe with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on the southern border, he added.
“They (Filipinos) are not really enthusiastic or not really thinking of leaving because this is something that we are used to. Anytime there are repatriation efforts, hindi uuwi ‘yan hanggang talagang untenable na [they will not go home until the situation is untenable],” De Vega told reporters in a virtual interview.
Last week, the Philippine Embassy in Beirut advised Filipinos to leave Lebanon immediately.
More than 700 Filipinos – less than a tenth of those living and working in Lebanon – have signified their desire to be repatriated.
De Vega said repatriation does not equate to the presence of war.
“Since November, hinihikayat natin mga kababayan natin na umuwi na not because may gera sa Lebanon mismo, sa most places in Lebanon, but because ayaw natin na biglang hindi na natin ma-e-evacuate sila ‘pag in case nga umakyat ‘yung hostilities, in case the levels of hostilities between Israel and the Hezbollah spread beyond the southern border,” he explained.
[Translation: Since November, we have been urging our fellow Filipinos to go home not because there is a war in Lebanon or in most places of it, but because we want to avoid the situation where we cannot evacuate them in case hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah spread beyond the southern border.]
De Vega said 356 Filipinos have come home, mostly undocumented or have been in Lebanon for less than two years and are not used to “the sounds of war.”
