DFA distances from Locsin’s statement on Palestinian children

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday “completely disassociated” itself from Ambassador Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s statement that Palestinian children should be killed.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines completely disassociates itself from the statement made on Twitter by Ambassador Teodoro Locsin Jr.,” the DFA said in a statement.

“Such statement was made in his strictly personal capacity,” it added.

In the now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Locsin said: “That’s why Palestinian children should be killed; they might grow up to become as gullible as innocent Palestinians letting Hamas launch rockets at Israel; not that they could stop them, but that’s no excuse. They are Muslims.”

Locsin, who is concurrently serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom and the President’s special envoy to China for special concerns, has apologized for his social media post.

“I immediately deleted my sarcastic response to a tweet as I realized it could be misconstrued and retweeted to incite,” the former foreign affairs secretary said.

“My apologies to those who did misconstrue my sentiments and did in fact get triggered – I obviously was not advocating for the literal death of anyone, but rather simply for the end of any ideology that condones terrorism in any way, shape or form,” he added.

The United Nations has expressed deep concern over the fate of civilians and victims of terrorism caught up in the Israel-Gaza crisis.

UN independent human rights experts denounced the ruthless attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians starting last Oct. 7.

They also stressed their concern for the victims of subsequent counter-terrorism measures by Israeli forces.

The United Nations Children’s Fund said one million children in Gaza are now facing a critical protection and humanitarian crisis.

About a million people have been displaced, around half of them children, and many have taken shelter in overcrowded shelters with extremely limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene – conditions that are especially dangerous for young ones.

Amid this development, another 24 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from war-torn Israel – three males and 21 females, majority of whom are caregivers – plus one infant have arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 aboard Etihad Airways from Israel to Abu Dhabi to Manila.

Department of Migrant Workers officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said that he saw light at the end of the tunnel when Israel agreed to open the border for humanitarian relief goods composed of assorted foods, medicines and drinking water for Palestinian civilians, including Filipinos in the Gaza Strip who were caught by the war between Israel and Hamas militants.

Cacdac added that it would take a long process to bring Filipinos back to the country even if OFWs cross through Egypt.

Most of the 24 OFWs who arrived yesterday said they “would never go back to Israel after the trauma they suffered on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants fired rockets toward Israel and took hostages of various nationalities in gatherings.”

The OFWs will receive the same benefits from the government like the earlier batches of OFWs who arrived. Rudy Santos, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan