As Thailand, the United States and other countries mourned their dead in the attack by Hamas on Israel, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday there were no confirmed Filipino fatalities from the strife as of yet.
The DFA said that seven Filipinos remained missing in Israel, with the Department of Migrant Workers revising its earlier count of five unaccounted for.
In a Palace briefing, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the Philippine Embassy had suggested to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. elevating the crisis in Gaza to Alert Level 3.
“The embassy has recommended making Gaza Alert Level 3, which means voluntary repatriation, a restricted area without a formal announcement yet,” De Vega said.
“But we are considering it as de facto, even though the President hasn’t officially signed or announced it. We can say it’s on voluntary repatriation,” he added.
Likewise, Israel’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Ilan Fluss, on Tuesday assured that his government is committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of Filipinos in Israel.
“The Israeli government is committed to the well-being of all Filipinos and all other nationals that are living in Israel,” Fluss said. “We are committed to them, the same as we are committed to the wellbeing of Israeli citizens.”
He assured that Filipinos in Israel would receive equal protection from the government against Hamas.
“We do not discriminate. They get the same protection and they follow the same protocols. They live with us and amongst us,” he said.
“We know there are seven Filipinos who haven’t been accounted for, so we also are very much worried about their wellbeing,” Fluss stressed.
Foreigners dead
Dozens of foreigners have been killed in Israel since Saturday’s Hamas attack, including 18 Thai nationals, 11 Americans, 10 from Nepal, seven from Argentina, two each from Ukraine and France, and at least one Russian.
The DFA said there are almost 30,000 OFWs in Israel, including 137 in Gaza — the epicenter of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
De Vega said that in Gaza, 38 of 137 Filipino women married to Palestinians had asked to be sent back to the Philippines.
DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza revealed that a total of nine Filipino families — composed of 38 Filipino nationals and 11 Palestinian spouses — were rescued by the Philippine Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
“Among the 38 Filipino nationals are 17 minors whose ages range from 2 to 15 years old,” Daza said.
DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Leo Cacdac, on the other hand, said the agency is in contact with the employers of Filipino overseas workers in Israel to gather information on their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration chief Arnell Ignacio said that the wife of one of the missing Filipinos, Gallenir Leandro Pacheco, claimed to have seen her husband in a video.
However, Ignacio said that OWWA is still verifying the information and asked Filipinos to be cautious about sharing unconfirmed information on social media.
Multiple talking heads
The DFA, DMW and OWWA, through their officials and spokespersons, have been coming up with figures and information on the Filipinos in Israel that, at times, do not jibe.
In the same press briefing, De Vega advised Filipinos to avoid traveling to Israel, saying that while the Holy Land sites are not where the hostilities are happening, it is best to avoid traveling to Israel at the moment.
“We are not telling you not to go, but we are advising you that it’s best, if possible, to postpone until we are absolutely sure that hostilities have ended,” he said.
“Even the Prime Minister of Israel has said that we are in a state of war. So it’s not normal for somebody to visit a country which is in a state of war,” he added.
The DFA and the DMW said there is no deployment ban yet for Filipino workers in Israel, with Cacdac saying the deployment status is closely tied with the Alert Levels issued by the Philippine government.
“The situation we are facing is that we have a government-to-government hiring agreement with our Israeli counterparts. So it’s a mutual agreement. We need to coordinate effectively with our Israeli Labor and Immigration counterparts before proceeding, even without a ban,” Cacdac added.
With GILMORE LEAÑO