DFA urged to prepare evacuation plans for Pinoys in countries near Ukraine
MANILA, Philippines — The government must prepare evacuation plans for overseas Filipinos in areas along the "danger zone" that may be affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sen. Imee Marcos said Tueday.
This comes shortly after the the European Union announced it would be funding arms deliveries to Ukraine.
She added that the government must prepare for a larger-scale evacuation of OFWs in Europe in case the conflict spreads.
"Evacuation plans must immediately be put in place for our OFWs not just in Ukraine and Russia but also in nearby Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova," Marcos said in a statement on the Senate's website. saying also that Filipinos should be stopped from going to those areas.
The lawmaker added that other countries will also be arranging for the safe passage of their citizens if the war escalates.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said last Thursday that it has accounted for some 181 Filipino nationals in Ukraine, with majority residing in the capital Kyiv.
The DFA said the Philippines embassy in Warsaw had put "great efforts in counting and accounting for every kababayan." Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. earlier vowed that no harm would come to Filipinos in Ukraine as he reassured the public that the government was taking steps to keep them safe.
READ: Locsin: No harm will come to Filipinos in Ukraine
The Philippines has voted yes to a resolution at the UN General Assembly calling on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and condemning its invasion of the former Soviet country.
The EU said it will impose economic sanctions on Russia, including excluding the country from global banking system SWIFT that would render many financial transactions with Russia impossible.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier signed a document signifying his country's intent to apply for EU membership, the deputy head of his office Andrii Sybiha said on Twitter.
For centuries, Ukraine was part of the Russian empire before becoming a Soviet state, and eventually becoming an independent nation after the USSR fell in 1991.
In 2014, Ukrainians deposed their pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, who had rejected an association agreement with the EU in favor of forging closer ties with Moscow.
Russia responded by annexing Ukraine's southern Crimean peninsula and backing separatists in the East. — with Anna Smolchenko and Dmitry Zaks/AFP
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