Phl won’t pull out embassy officials in Egypt

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will not pull out its embassy officials and personnel in Egypt to ensure the safety of Filipinos amid the political unrest in that country.

Members of the Egyptian army yesterday toppled Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the situation in the country remained uncertain.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government is monitoring the situation and President Aquino was constantly getting updates from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Some 6,569 Filipinos are currently in Egypt, mostly in Cairo and Alexandria, based on latest government records.

Lacierda said the Filipinos there would be the priority of the government and they would not comment at this time about the political developments.

He urged Filipinos in Egypt to exercise caution and to stay away from areas where there had been reported hostilities.

Egypt’s military ousted Morsi for his supposed failure to “meet the demands of the Egyptian people.”

The president of Egypt’s supreme constitutional court will act as interim head of state until new presidential polls are held.

Even before Morsi’s ouster, the United States had asked its non-emergency diplomatic staff to leave Egypt due to the developments.

Lacierda said the DFA did not change its position to let embassy officials and personnel stay put. There was no notice yet if the Filipinos in Egypt should be evacuated, he said.

He also refused to comment on how the Philippines viewed the ouster of Morsi.

“We do not wish to get into the political situation and internal situation in Egypt. Our first and foremost consideration is the safety of our fellow Filipinos in Egypt,” Lacierda said.

But he said the government would watch out for implications of Morsi’s ouster, especially on oil prices.

He said inventories of oil supply and prices were always being done and the Department of Energy would know if there were those taking advantage of the situation.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is not inclined at this time to ban the deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Egypt despite the growing tension there.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said the government sees no need to impose a ban on the deployment of workers to or repatriate workers from Egypt.

“We will follow the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs and right now there is no ban in deployment of Filipino workers to Egypt,” Cruz said.

The DFA has raised alert level 1 and advised Filipino workers in Egypt to stay indoors.

Cruz explained that the ongoing tension is unlikely to affect Filipinos working and staying in Egypt.

“The problem in Egypt is purely domestic and not expected to turn bloody,” he said.

The labor official also noted that the country only deploys a limited number of Filipino workers to Egypt, thus, there is no need to impose a ban at the moment.  –  With Mayen Jaymalin