RP evacuation team to venture into Hezbollah territory

The Philippine government will send teams into Lebanon in an effort to search for more Filipino workers in the eastern and southern parts of the war-torn country controlled by Hezbollah guerrilla forces.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said they will go to the extent of searching into what is left in southern Lebanon to extricate Filipino workers who were trapped during the month-long fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos said five teams have been deployed in critical areas, such as the Bekaa Valley, for evacuation efforts while the fragile ceasefire is still holding.

"These are the areas where we were never able to penetrate since the start of the war because of the heavy attacks and fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah," Conejos told a press briefing at Malacañang.

"This is our chance to rescue Filipinos who may have been left behind," he said.

Conejos pointed out Hezbollah militants control the Bekaa Valley, which has been subjected to intense Israeli attack.

Estimates of Filipinos still holed up in the towns of Baalbek and Zahle in Bekaa run to between 1,000 to 2,000.

Conejos said "Team Bekaa" is headed by Ambassador Roy Cimatu, special envoy to the Middle East and Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Erik Endaya.

He said there would be another team to be deployed at the southern Lebanon town of Sidon, which also headed by Cimatu and Endaya.

"Team Beirut" and "Team Tripoli," named after the main town in northern Lebanon will be headed by Ambassador Al Francis Bichara.

Another team will be deployed to Syria which will be headed by Ambassador Rafael Seguis.

The crisis teams were also tasked to negotiate with the employers and convince them to allow their Filipino workers to go home.

Conejos said a six-point action plan was set in motion following the implementation of the UN-backed ceasefire on Monday.

The action plan includes intensifying the telephone campaign to reach out to more Filipino workers in Lebanon.

Conejos said the crisis managers have placed advertisements in local papers in Lebanon, including the Filipino ABS-CBN international television satellite to reach out to more Filipinos.

Malacañang, meanwhile, stressed the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in Lebanon will stay despite the UN-initiated ceasefire.

"There is no policy to redeploy, in fact the ban to go to Lebanon stands. You have to disabuse yourself of the misconception. There is no such thing. President (Arroyo’s ) orders are very clear – evacuate all 30,000 and we will continue to do so until that order is remanded back by the President," Conejos said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the situation in Lebanon is still shaky amid the UN-sponsored truce.

Bunye said the Philippine government welcomes the UN-sponsored ceasefire "with caution."

"There is a humanitarian crisis on the ground and flashpoints may still abound," he said.

"We urge our workers to keep in touch with our crisis team and follow the bidding of our officials. The government is in the best position to assess the security situation in Lebanon and at this point is still engaged in the repatriation effort," Bunye said.

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, however, clarified the government has yet to lift the ban despite the cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon.

"The prevailing peace should not be taken as a sign that our OFWs are already out of harm’s way since the ceasefire agreement is still in a critical stage," Brion pointed out. — With Aurea Calica, Mayen Jaymalin, Rainier Allan Ronda