MANILA, Philippines - Despite repeated calls by the Philippine government to leave Libya, Filipino workers in Sirte have chosen to stay and sought exemption to the travel ban to the strife-torn nation.
Filipino workers of Sirte Oil Co. (SOC), joined by their company officials and the Filipino community in Sirte, met with officials of the Philippine embassy in Tripoli last June 26 to discuss ongoing repatriation of Filipinos in Libya.
Labor attaché Melchor Dizon and officers Jun Mendoza and Lacson Casim represented the embassy.
Sirte oil company deputy chairman Isaah Milad, employee relations coordinator Mohain Abu Ras and security superintendent Abu Bankr Atia attended the meeting.
Also present were leaders and members of the SOC-Filipino Community Brega, Libya Fertilizer Co., AMAL Libya Catering, Hanna Catering, medical workers from Brega Area 3, Adjedabyia and Al Nahar-Brega Plant.
The SOC-Filipino Community, led by Arvin Manantan, presented a letter request for an exemption to the travel ban in Libya. The letter would be submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Filipinos said they would submit documents for consideration of their request, as well as guarantee and petition letters of the Filipino community in Sirte, assuring the availability of transportation to be arranged by the company for exit and re-entry to Libya without passing through Tripoli and Benghazi.
They suggested making available transportat facilities such as Brega seaport as pick-up point.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the major challenge the Philippine government faced in 2011 is the same this time, with the need to convince Filipinos they must leave Libya to avoid the dangers of the worsening situation there.
In 2011, the Filipino workers were more concerned about the difficulty in remitting money to their family than the air strikes on different parts of Libya. They asked how the government could help them with their remittances.
About 11,000 Filipinos are estimated to still be in Libya even as the violence has shut down the airport and endangered road travel out of the country.
Philippine officials said Filipinos were delaying their evacuation because they were more worried about not finding jobs at home.
A ship chartered by the Philippine government will pick up Filipinos who registered for evacuation by sea in Benghazi and Misrata, while 599 Filipinos in Tripoli will be evacuated by land after the border in Tunisia reopened. The ship, rented from Malta for $1.8 million, can carry 1,500 passengers and will reach Libya this weekend.
Del Rosario said the ship would pick up Filipinos from Misrata and Benghazi and hopefully Sirte, but others could still flee across the land border to Tunisia.
He said the boat could not go to Sirte because it has a shallow harbor.