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The 136 Filipinos, who are awaiting repatriation, are all safe and accounted for despite the dwindling food and water supply in Gaza, Philippine Ambassador to Jordan Wilfredo Santos said on Tuesday, Oct, 24.
Palestinians carrying foreign passports wait at the Rafah gate in the hopes of crossing into Egypt amid Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. (Photo by SAID KHATIB/Agence France-Presse)
Speaking in a Super Radyo dzBB interview, Santos noted that more than 70 Filipinos are already in Rafah Governate, but they remained stranded as the Gaza-Egypt border has yet to be opened for evacuees.
“Lahat sila hindi pa makaalis dahil sarado pa ‘yung Rafah Border Crossing. Pero inaasahan namin na since nagbukas na yung border crossing na ‘yan to allow humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza, susunod na sana sa madaling panahon (All of them have yet to leave because the Rafah Border Crossing is still closed. But since the border crossing has already opened to allow humanitarian aid from Egypt to Gaza, we hope it will soon open),” he said.
The opening of the border will allow Filipinos to evacuate from Gaza, and proceed to Egypt for their repatriation to the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier confirmed that four Filipinos have already died due to the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Currently, the DFA raised Alert Level 4, or mandatory repatriation, in war-torn Gaza due to the conflict.
However, the ambassador said the exact number of Filipinos crossing the border to Egypt will remain uncertain once this is opened.
“Ang advice namin sa kanila na since Alert Level 4 na ang dineclare ng ating pamahalaan sa buong Gaza, dapat lumikas na sila, mag-repatriate na. But meron pa rin sa kanila na hindi pa decided (Our advice to them that since our government has declared Alert Level 4 in Gaza, they should evacuate, they should be repatriated. But some of them are still undecided),” he said.
Santos explained some of the Filipinos are undecided because they didn’t want to leave their Palestinian spouses.
While the humanitarian aid has started coming in through the Rafah Border Crossing from Egypt, Santos said the supply of food and water were still in limited quantity.
“Ang magandang nabalitaan namin ay nagtutulungan ang ating mga kababayan sa Gaza. Kung sino man ang may (The good news we heard is that our countrymen in Gaza are helping each other. Whoever has) extra resources or facilities, they share them with each other),” he said. — Raymund Antonio
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
