DFA appeals anew to OFWs in Syria

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday reiterated its appeal to the more than 4,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Syria to heed the government’s call for mandatory repatriation amid the worsening situation there.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario personally issued the appeal for Filipinos to have themselves repatriated at government’s expense even as recruiters raised doubts if the government has enough funds for it.

“We are appealing to our kababayans in Syria to remove themselves out of harm’s way while there is still time by getting themselves repatriated back to the Philippines,” Del Rosario said after the Philippine embassy in Damascus said the capital remains on high alert in the wake of the car bombings there on Dec. 23. 

The foreign affairs chief said he sent a career diplomat to Syria to oversee the repatriation efforts by Philippine embassy officials. 

He said Assistant Secretary Olivia Palala of the DFA Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Coordination is leaving for Syria to assume the post of Charge d’ Affaires at the Philippine embassy in Damascus. Palala, who holds the rank of Chief of Mission I, had previously served as Consul General at the Philippine consulate general in Manado and the Philippine consulate general in Agana. 

The DFA also asked the country’s honorary consuls in Aleppo and Idlib and Homs as well as Filipino community leaders, the local media and even the International Organization for Migration for assistance in informing Filipinos of the mandatory repatriation order. 

The Philippines has so far repatriated 434 OFWs since the start of the political crisis in Syria in March. Of this number, 349 were repatriated after the Philippine government called for their voluntary repatriation in August.  – With Mayen Jaymalin