Senatorial candidate and incumbent Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Sunday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to prepare for humanitarian flights that would help bring back some 380 Filipino nationals working in Ukraine.
Escudero noted other nations have been prompting and helping their citizens to leave the crisis-hit eastern European country amid warnings by Western governments of an imminent invasion by Russia.
Reports said around 100,000 Russian troops have amassed in the border of Ukraine, leading foreign governments to believe that an invasion is possible anytime.
“As other countries are calling on their citizens to leave Ukraine, I urge our DFA, if they have not done so, to do the same. We should also be ready to provide free humanitarian flights for our OFWs and repatriate them back to our country safely,” said Escudero, who is seeking a fresh term in the Senate in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
“Ngayon pa lang ay kailangan nang paghandaan ang mga posibleng kaganapan na mangyayari sa pagitan ng Russia at Ukraine (We need to prepare for whatever possible development that could happen between Russia and Ukraine),” he said.
Escudero also said the DFA should, likewise, monitor the conditions of Filipinos living in Ukraine's neighboring countries of Belarus and Moldova, as they may be affected if the situation worsens.
The Philippine embassies in Moscow and Budapest oversee Belarus and Moldova, respectively
“Huwag na nating hintayin na kung kailan lumala ang sitwasyon ay saka lamang kikilos at aasikasuhin ang lahat. Kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan ang nakasalalay dito (Let’s not wait for the situation to escalate before we take any action and bring them home. The safety of our citizens are at stake here),” Escudero added.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Gonar Musor, in a statement released last Friday, February 12, said the Philippine Embassy in Poland, which has jurisdiction over Ukraine, is “in touch" with the Filipino community there.
He said most of the Filipinos in Ukraine live in Kyiv and nearby areas and are located far from the eastern border near Russia.
Musor had also said overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are encouraged to contact the embassy, report any untoward incident they might observe in their respective areas, and continue monitoring their Filipino friends through social media.