Filipinos Choose to Stay in Libya Despite All Odds

Outside a travel agency, a Bangladeshi man slowly sweeps the steps. It could be Saudi Arabia. He wears the same blue uniform and sweeps in the same slow, methodical way, brush and pan in hand. Except that this is not Jeddah or Riyadh. It is Benghazi.

Like Saudi Arabia, Libya too employed large amounts of expatriates to do most of the hard work — cleaning the streets, working in restaurants and hospitals, in factories, slaughterhouses and as farmers and drivers — over 1.5 million of them.
Most were from sub-Saharan Africa, especially from Mali, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and elsewhere in West Africa. Or from Egypt, especially the farmers; there were at least 600,000 of them. There were also Filipinos, Indians and Pakistanis. Most of them were professionals — nurses, teachers, engineers, IT specialists and the like. But there were no Pakistani laborers for example, or no Indian taxi drivers. In fact there were no foreign taxi drivers at all; that was and is still very much a Libyan monopoly.

Readers will note the past tense is being used. It has to be. Most expatriates in Libya left early on during the uprising that finally toppled Muammar Qaddafi on Aug. 21 when his forces fled Tripoli.

Not all left. Some were unable to go. Others decided to stay on, either because they wanted to help or because there might be difficulties returning to Libya after the conflict was over. That was the case for a number of Filipinos.

Continue reading at Arab News

Filipinos Choose to Stay in Libya Despite All Odds

Outside a travel agency, a Bangladeshi man slowly sweeps the steps. It could be Saudi Arabia. He wears the same blue uniform and sweeps in the same slow, methodical way, brush and pan in hand. Except that this is not Jeddah or Riyadh. It is Benghazi.

Like Saudi Arabia, Libya too employed large amounts of expatriates to do most of the hard work — cleaning the streets, working in restaurants and hospitals, in factories, slaughterhouses and as farmers and drivers — over 1.5 million of them.
Most were from sub-Saharan Africa, especially from Mali, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and elsewhere in West Africa. Or from Egypt, especially the farmers; there were at least 600,000 of them. There were also Filipinos, Indians and Pakistanis. Most of them were professionals — nurses, teachers, engineers, IT specialists and the like. But there were no Pakistani laborers for example, or no Indian taxi drivers. In fact there were no foreign taxi drivers at all; that was and is still very much a Libyan monopoly.

Readers will note the past tense is being used. It has to be. Most expatriates in Libya left early on during the uprising that finally toppled Muammar Qaddafi on Aug. 21 when his forces fled Tripoli.

Not all left. Some were unable to go. Others decided to stay on, either because they wanted to help or because there might be difficulties returning to Libya after the conflict was over. That was the case for a number of Filipinos.

Continue reading at Arab News

24 Filipino Crew of MV Pacific Express Return Home

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported that the 24 Filipino seafarers aboard the MV Pacific Express arrived in Manila last night aboard an Emirates flight from Mombasa, Kenya at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

On hand to welcome them were DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) Special Assistant Atty. Enrico T. Fos, DFA-OUMWA Legal Officer Emily Villanueva- Descallar and representatives from the DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

The Cyprus-flagged and owned container vessel with 25 Filipinos and one Ukrainian crewmember successfully repelled a piracy attack last September 20.

A Filipino seafarer stayed behind in Mombasa to assess the pirate-inflicted damage suffered by the vessel, as well as to conduct a property inventory.

The MV Pacific Express was attacked by armed pirates approximately 180 nautical miles east-southeast of Mombasa, prompting the vessel’s captain to send a distress call, which alerted the navy vessel Andreadoria to come to their rescue.

The pirates abandoned the vessel and its crewmembers upon the arrival of the navy vessel. However, the pirates set fire to the vessel and burned items including the crewmembers’ belongings before leaving the ship.

The Philippine Embassy in Nairobi provided consular assistance to the crewmembers, as it issued travel documents to the Filipino seafarers since their passports and seamen’s books were among the burned items.

As of date, there are 32 Filipino seafarers aboard five vessels who are held captive by pirates at the Gulf of Aden.

Source DFA

Gaddafi Nephew’s Pinay Maids Diana Jill Rivera, Mary Ann Ducos Escape to Tunisia

Two Filipina maids who worked for the nephew of ousted Libyan chief Muammar Gaddafi escaped with the help if Philippine embassy officials, Manila’s foreign affairs spokesman said.

Diana Jill Rivera and Mary Ann Ducos did not bring their belongings when members of the Philippine Embassy in Libya waited for them in two cars outside the house of the nephew of Gaddafi, Raul Hernandez, foreign affairs spokesman said.

They were rushed to Tunisia where they were scheduled to take a commercial plane for the Philippines, said Hernandez, adding that their family members have been notified about their arrival.

The escape was arranged by the two maids who managed to get the mobile phone numbers of the Philippine Embassy staff, said Hernandez, adding the arrangement was made for several days.

Continue reading at Gulf News

No Exact Count of Dabawenyo OFWs in Libya, Syria: DFA

Photo Credit: davaotoday.com

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Davao Region on Thursday admitted it does not have an exact count of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Davao holed up in Libya and Syria.

Conegundo Fernandez, DFA administrative officer, said they have no way of knowing how many of the OFWs in Libya and Syria are from Davao because the OFWs usually put Manila as their address in their application or departure forms.

He said it is unfortunate that most relatives of OFWs also do not know where they are working.

“Magadto sila diri kay gusto nila papauli-on ilang mga kaanak, ug pangutan-on na asa dapit nagtrabaho unsa nga kumpanya, dili pud sila katubag (Some come here to request for their relatives’ repatriation but don’t know where their relatives are working),” Fernandez said.

It is important for relatives of OFWs to know the employers’ address and contact numbers, he said.

“Ang mabuhat lang pud namu kay ang i-forward ang mga information na among ma-compile sa Embassy kung asa ang OFW. Na-discuss man na sa Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), naa man gud uban naga-attend dili maminaw, dili mangutana ug dili jud pud mag-attend (What we do is to forward all the information given by the families and it has been discussed during PDOS. There are some who do not listen, some do not ask questions and others do not attend at all),” Fernandez said.

Continue reading at Sun Star

Pinoy Engineer in Libya Reported Missing

A Filipino engineer working for a British company in Libya has gone missing, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said today.

DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez said that the Filipino engineer “went missing” after a group of armed rebels raided a housing unit owned by a British engineering company in the city of Tripoli.

Hernandez said that the incident happened around 2 a.m. yesterday, based on a report by DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis.

He said that the DFA already has the identity of the Filipino engineer, who was also acting as caretaker of the housing unit.

“We are not disclosing his identity because we have to inform his family,” Hernandez said in a radio interview.

The DFA spokesperson also reported another incident in Tripoli, involving service vehicles of Philippine representatives in Libya.

He said that Libyan rebels, who have already occupied most of the capital city, took the vehicles parked in front of the Philippine embassy office.

He said that among the cars taken were service vehicles of the Philippine labor attaché and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration. He said vehicles of the United Nations and the world Health Organization were also taken by the rebels.

Continue reading at Philippine Star

Gov’t to Rescue 1,700 Pinoys in Tripoli, Libya

The Philippine government plans to rescue at least 1,700 Filipinos in Tripoli, Libya as rebel fighters streamed into the capital.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it has asked the International Organization of Migration (IOM) to assist the Filipinos.

DFA Undersecretary Rafael Seguis and Ambassador Alejandrino Vicente are visiting hospitals and housing areas in Tripoli to convince Filipino to return home.

Many Filipinos in Tripoli, most of them nurses, had initially refused to leave.

Rebels waving opposition flags and firing into the air drove into Green Square, a symbolic location which the government had until recently used for mass demonstrations in support of the now embattled Muammar Gaddafi.

Televised images showed Libyans kneeling and kissing the ground of Tripoli in gratitude for what some called a “blessed day.”

Continue reading at ABS-CBN News