MANILA, March 18 ------ At least 63 Filipinos in Haiti will be repatriated amid the on-going conflict in the Caribbean country due to gang violence. The development was announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in a joint statement.
The repatriation of 63 Filipinos comes after Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo approved the recommendation on the declaration of Alert Level 3, or the voluntary repatriation for Filipinos in Haiti. There are 115 Filipinos currently in the Caribbean island nation. The Philippine government is awaiting confirmation on whether or not the rest will agree to be repatriated.
According to DMW officer-in-charge Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac, they are looking for options on how to repatriate the 63 Filipinos, as no flights are coming out of Haiti while land travel to the capital city of Port-au-Prince is also discouraged. "Chartering a flight seems [to be] the most viable option at this time," Cacdac said in a separate statement by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). "As of date, there is no report of any Filipino affected or injured by the ongoing security crisis," Cacdac also said.
The Philippine Embassy in Washington, led by Ambassador Jose Manuel "Babes" Romualdez, and the local DMW-Migrant Workers' Office-OWWA are closely coordinating with the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Haiti, Fitzgerald Oliver James Brandt, and Filipino community leader Bernadette Villagracia regarding the planned repatriation of Filipinos in Haiti.
Haiti has been convulsed for the last two weeks by a gang uprising, with the well-armed groups aiming to topple Prime Minister Ariel Henry, an unpopular and unelected leader. Henry agreed to step aside after an emergency meeting Monday that brought together parties including the US, UN and Caribbean representatives, yielding a blueprint for Haitians to form a governing Transitional Presidential Council until elections can be held.
Earlier on Saturday, authorities said police seized firearms and cleared roadblocks in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood controlled by notorious gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, in an operation that left several criminals dead.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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