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NewsTranscript
00:00Let's talk about the chaos in Lebanon. We learned about the situation there from the Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Divega.
00:08Usec Divega, good morning to you.
00:10Good morning.
00:12Sir, please give us an idea, our viewers, what is the current situation in Lebanon?
00:19Is the chaos only focused on Beirut or the incidents of chaos are scattered?
00:26The chaos is not focused on Beirut. It's only on the southern border with Israel.
00:31Because Israel and Hezbollah, the Hezbollah militants are on the border.
00:37They always send missiles to the Israel border and Israel will retaliate.
00:43There are military or violent attacks.
00:48Beirut is still peaceful. There is tension.
00:52The ambassador said the situation is tense, but the life in the city is normal.
00:57That's why our countrymen want to leave the city because they are used to the situation in the Middle East.
01:08I want to assure my fellow OWs and other Filipinos that Beirut is not a war zone.
01:17But we don't want a situation where suddenly there's a war in Gaza or Sudan.
01:25It's hard for Filipinos to evacuate.
01:27As long as possible, we want to repatriate as many as possible.
01:31That's why we have voluntary repatriation.
01:34How many people have signed up to repatriate, Usec?
01:40It started last November and December.
01:43There are 356, including those who were repatriated by migrant workers,
01:48the OWs and those who were repatriated by the funding of the DFA for the immigrants.
01:56There are 356 who went home.
01:58There are 738 as of now.
02:01But there are a lot.
02:02738 are pending because they are waiting for their exit.
02:07If you see that there are roughly 11,000 or 12,000 Filipinos, according to the figures,
02:1412,000 to 11,000 Filipinos are in Lebanon.
02:17Maybe there are more of them because there are undocumented.
02:22If there are 11,000 or 12,000, there are less than 10 percent of those who have signed up.
02:29Most of them are either undocumented or those who have just arrived, less than two or three years.
02:37That's why they are dependent because they are not used to this life.
02:47Usec, we are not asking for the exact number because there are undocumented.
02:56We are not asking for the exact number because we have repatriated from Lebanon twice,
03:02including in 2009 or so.
03:05There was a war there.
03:07So we repatriated several thousand.
03:09Recently, the estimates were about 17,000.
03:14The number of Filipinos in Lebanon is 11.5 or 11 to 12.
03:19So we are using the Filipino community, the DFA and MWU is using the contacts.
03:27The Secretary-General can explain how many they are.
03:31But everyone knows how to contact and use this voluntary repatriation program.
03:39Usec, there's a flight.
03:41The airports are open. We don't have restrictions on letting them go home, if ever.
03:46In fact, there are three calls to go home.
03:49There are a few who go home every month.
03:52That's why we want to do this.
03:56The airport is still open.
03:58The Middle East airlines are still open.
04:00European airlines are flying to Lebanon.
04:03If there's a war, we plan to evacuate through the northern ports.
04:09This has already happened.
04:11Hopefully, it won't happen.
04:13But the embassy has a contingency plan.
04:16Usec, in southern Lebanon, how many of our countrymen have been there?
04:20Well, supposedly, the ambassador told us,
04:23not exactly, but there are three kills.
04:25Less than 100 in the southern city.
04:30But the border itself, where there's a war, where there's a flood, there are no Filipinos there.
04:36Last year, and even before, there were a handful, maybe less than one dozen,
04:45but they are not there anymore.
04:48There are no Filipinos on the border.
04:51But southern cities that are close to the border, maybe one hour away or so,
04:55a few kilometers, maybe 50 kilometers away, there are Filipinos.
04:59We are calling on them to go to Beirut.
05:03The problem is, and to go to the Philippines if possible.
05:06These are our countrymen.
05:08They haven't left their countrymen yet.
05:12Usec, what are our considerations for us to declare a mandatory repatriation status in Lebanon?
05:20Mandatory if there's a total breakdown of peace and order.
05:24A good example is Gaza.
05:26It's a war.
05:28We're hoping that it won't break out.
05:30Second, the charter planes and ships should be ready.
05:35We're just preparing them now.
05:38As Ambassador Raymond Balatbach and his team said,
05:41Labor Attaché Alex Padayan, if we announce alert level four and there's no one left to go home,
05:49then it's a failure.
05:51We don't want to give an alarmist situation because life in Lebanon is still normal.
05:58But there are many countries, including China, India, Saudi Arabia,
06:02and some other countries who are calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon before there's a war.
06:09Okay. Usec, thank you very much for that update.
06:13We will continue to update you on the situation in Lebanon.
06:17We talked to DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega.
06:20Kapuso, for the latest news, visit and subscribe to GMA Integrated News on YouTube.
06:26For Kapuso Abroad, join us on GMA Pinoy TV and www.gmainews.tv.