Over 800 OFWs arriving from war-torn Libya

MANILA, Philippines - More than 800 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) left strife-torn Libya on a chartered ship bound for Malta yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose said the government-commissioned ship carrying 810 Filipinos headed to Malta where they will be airlifted by chartered flights of Philippine Airlines (PAL).

PAL’s Boeing 747 and Airbus 330 that can carry 350 passengers each left Manila yesterday. 

The returning OFWs from Libya are expected to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport tonight or Sunday morning.  

Malta is an island in the Mediterranean Sea that is some 300 kilometers away from Libya.

It would take about nine hours to fly from Malta to Manila.

Last ship

The government chartered the 1,500-seat vessel for $1.8 million to repatriate Filipinos from Libya.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Thursday said the government will not be chartering another ship to evacuate the OFWs.

“There will be no ship after this. It’s difficult... We don’t have the number (of repatriates) to be able to support another ship,” he said.

The DFA said only 1,036 have registered to board the ship for Malta yesterday.

Del Rosario said repatriation will continue by land through the Tunisian border.

He said around 150 Filipinos are being taken out of Libya through that route every other day.

The government had ordered the mass evacuation of 13,000 Filipinos in Libya due to the ongoing civil war there.

The DFA has repatriated some 1,000 OFWs since trouble erupted in Libya last month.

Some 200 Filipinos have backed out and chose to stay in Libya despite the ongoing violence to hold on to their jobs.

The DFA had raised alert level 4 or mandatory repatriation in Libya on July 20.

A Filipino construction worker was beheaded by militants while a Filipina nurse was gang-raped last month.

Meanwhile, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Rebecca Calzado said they have arranged accommodation and transportation for the returning OFWs.

“OWWA is coordinating with the families of the OFWs to know if they could fetch them,” she said.

For those going home to the provinces, Calzado said they have readied the OWWA halfway home for their temporary shelter.

“Many of those arriving are professionals, so most likely they would be able to go home on their own. We will just be extending airport assistance and transport,” she said.

Calzado said buses are on standby to transport the OFWs from the airport to OWWA.

She said the OFWs may claim their P10,000 financial grant at the different OWWA regional offices.

Kin of beheaded  OFW get aid

The family of a Filipino construction worker who was beheaded in Libya has received insurance and death benefits from OWWA.

Calzado expressed hope that the benefits extended to the wife of the slain Filipino worker will help their children to fulfill their dreams.

“We hope that the dream of their eldest son of becoming a basketball player will not die with his father,” she said.

Calzado declined to identify the Filipino worker upon the request of his family.

Aside from insurance, death and social benefits, the OWWA also extended scholarship and livelihood assistance to the family of the Filipino worker.

His 16-year-old son is entitled to a scholarship for a four-year course, Calzado said.

Trauma, stress

Several Filipino workers who have returned from Libya are still suffering from the trauma of being trapped in a war zone, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said yesterday.

Of the 1,299 repatriates from Libya, 54 manifested symptoms of trauma, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

She said the OFWs are undergoing stress debriefing.

OWWA officers said some of the workers suffer anxiety.  – With Mayen Jaymalin, Rudy Santos