DFA exec says placing Gaza under Alert Level 3 recommended to Marcos

An official from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that placing Gaza under Alert Level 3 is being proposed to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. amid the ongoing clash between Israeli security forces and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"Pero nirecommend na ng embassy gawing Alert Level 3 'yung Gaza, meaning voluntary repatriation which also means restricted phase na 'yan, and hindi pa naannounce na final pero we are going by that," said DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said at a Palace presser.

(The embassy recommended putting Gaza under Alert Level 3 which means voluntary repatriation. It also means that it's already restricted. It may not have yet been announced, but we are already going by that.)

"Parang de facto kahit di pa officially pinirmahan ni Presidente o inannounce na, we could say that it's under voluntary repatriation na," he added.

(Even if the President has yet to sign it or announce it, we could say that it's already under voluntary repatriation.)  

The DFA said Filipinos had been advised to hold off their trip to the Holy Land sites amid the hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

“We haven’t put a travel ban on Israel. But our embassy has issued a travel advisory, so as much as possible, avoid traveling right now,” De Vega said.

Earlier, the DFA said that around 38 Filipinos have already requested to be repatriated amid the ongoing conflict in Israel. 

Asked about the steps and actions of the DFA regarding the request as well as the target date for the possible repatriation, De Vega said, “It is a complicated process due to the situation in Gaza”.

“But the Philippine Embassies in Tel-Aviv, Cairo, and Amman are working on the repatriation of Filipinos from Gaza,” he added.

Among the 38 Filipinos who requested repatriation include 17 minors whose ages range from two to 15 years old, according to a DFA update.

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) officer-in-charge Hans Cacdac, meanwhile, said repatriation and evacuation of Filipinos from Israel will be done "at the proper time."

“Sa tamang oras, sa tamang panahon, in coordination with the Israeli authorities, ay tayo ay magsasagawa evacuation-repatriation doon sa mga nagnanais umuwi. Kapag dumating sa punto ng mandatory repatriation, ay isasagawa rin natin ito,” Cacdac said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(We will conduct evacuation-repatriation for those who wish to return home at the right time, in coordination with the Israeli authorities. When it comes to the point of mandatory repatriation, we will also carry that out.)

Two Filipinos were injured amid the attacks in Israel, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said Tuesday.

“Oo, pero lahat ito nagri-recover na (Yes, but both of them are already recovering),” OWWA administrator Arnell Ignacio said when asked to confirm if there were two Filipinos hurt in the violence.

When it comes to deployment of workers, Cacdac said there is no ban.

"Kasi sa ngayon talagang walang deployment ng new hires ng caregivers, as mentioned by Usec. Ed mayroon pang negotiations to renew or to resume the deployment. Ngayon, what is functioning right now is the government-to-government hiring ng hotel workers, dalawa kasi iyon – government-to-government hiring ng caregivers maybe 2020, 2021 and then 2022 nagsimula iyong hotel workers," Cacdac said.

(At present there is really no deployment of new hires of caregivers, as mentioned by Usec. Ed there are still negotiations to renew or to resume deployment. What is functioning right now is the government-to-government hiring of hotel workers because there's two hiring of government-to-government hiring of caregivers.)

"So, naka-hold ngayon iyong sa caregivers but not as mentioned by Usec. Ed not related to the current situation is because their current negotiations taking place between both sides," he added.

(The deployment of caregivers was put on hold but it is not related to the current situation.)

On Saturday, Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years, firing rockets and deploying gunmen to several Israeli towns. At least 22 people in Israel were killed.

A “state of war alert” was issued by Israel’s Home Front Command thereafter.

The death toll due to the attacks surged to over 1,000 as reported by officials on both sides on Sunday, according to Agence France-Presse.

The conflict's worst escalation in decades has claimed more than 600 lives on the Israeli side, the government press office said.

Gaza officials reported at least 370 deaths. —VAL/NB, GMA Integrated News