PH officials stranded in Israel to return to PH on Saturday
Metro Manila, Philippines - A group of Philippine officials is set to fly back to the country on Saturday, June 21 after being stuck in Israel, government officials confirmed.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the delegation left Israel by land through Jordan, where they arrived on Tuesday evening.
“By the weekend, they should be home,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega also confirmed to NewsWatch Plus.
De Vega said the 21-man contingent were guests of the Israeli government. The group included nine mayors, four vice mayors, two party-list representatives, two regional directors, and four agriculture officials.
The Philippine delegation visited Israel on June 10 to exchange best practices on dairy farming, according to Israel Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss as reported by state media Philippine News Agency. The trip was supposed to end on June 20.
“Medyo nakakatakot nga nalaman ko, pinakita ‘yong picture yong hotel nila binomba,” Tiu Laurel told reporters on Wednesday.
[Translation: The situation is quite scary. I saw the picture of their hotel that was bombed.]
The DA chief said “they were on top” of the situation and was in constant communication with the officials.
“So we’ve tried to find ways to get them out either via Egypt or — the option that they took — a land trip to Jordan. And from Jordan, ifa-fly out sila [they will be flown] to Qatar and back to Manila,” he said.
The group is expected to arrive in the country at 5 a.m. on Saturday.
Israel shut its airspace after its surprise attack on Iran on Friday.
The Philippine Embassy in Israel said that as of Tuesday, a Filipino woman remains in critical condition due to the missile attacks, while another was confined due to “moderate-serious” injuries.
Twenty-six Filipinos are undergoing processing of their repatriation amid escalating tensions. Around 150 Filipinos who have initially requested for repatriation.
With reports from NewsWatch Plus correspondent Daniza Fernandez
