There are no recommendations yet by the Philippine embassies in Israel and Iran to raise the alert level there following the missile attack launched by Iran against Israel over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday, April 16.
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system launches to intercept missiles fired from Iran, in central Israel on Sunday, April 14, 2024. Iran launched its first direct military attack against Israel on Saturday. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)
During the Bagong Pilipinas briefing, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Eduardo de Vega said that they are waiting for the recommendations from Philippine Ambassador to Israel Pedro ‘Junie’ Laylo Jr. and Philippine Ambassador to Iran Ambassador Roberto Manalo.
He said that Alert Level 2, which prohibits the sending of Filipino workers, is raised in Israel, but those who already have the proper work documents are allowed to come back.
“Wala pang balak so far pero mag-issue ng advisory sa mga Pilipino na mag-ingat lang doon sa Israel na sumunod sa mga patakaran ng pamahalaan (There are no plans yet but we issued an advisory to Filipinos to take care there and follow the rules of the government),” De Vega added.
Filipinos are instead advised to avoid non-essential travel to Israel because even though the situation there is normal, the DFA undersecretary said it could still turn bad.
“Sa Iran naman, wala pang advisory…(In Iran, we don’t have an advisory yet) . . . There are 2,000 Filipinos there. Karamihan sa kanila mga Iranian citizens so kinukupkop din sila ng Iranian authorities (Many of them are also Iranian citizens who were taken in by the Iranian authorities).”
De Vega also expressed confidence that Filipinos understand the situation in the Middle East and that they are ready in case it worsens.
“The best way to help our kababayan is diplomatically. The Philippines joins other nations in working, in calling for non-escalation of the tension or violence. Sumunod lang sa advocacy natin sa (Let us just follow our advocacy in) international law,” he said.
On April 13, Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones against Israel in what signals as the first time Tehran launched a direct military assault on Israel despite decades of enmity dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
This happened less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli attack in Syria killed two Iranian generals in Iran’s consular building.
But on Monday, April 15, Israel’s military chief said that the country will respond to the attacks even as world leaders urged it not to retaliate.
De Vega said there are more or less 30,000 Filipinos, including permanent residents, in Israel, but only a few of them express their desire to go back to the Philippines even during spates of violence there.
“Usually, ang mga umuuwi dahil walang trabaho o matagal nang overstaying, may edad na (those who want to go home don’t have work or have been overstaying, they’re already old),” he explained.
“Pero ‘yung mga umuuwi na natatakot are very rare kasi iyong mga kababayan natin sa Israel are ready dahil alam nila volatile situation doon kaya handa parati sila (But as those who want to come home because they are afraid are very rare because Filipinos in Israel are ready because they know the situation is volatile so they are always ready).”
The DFA official assured that the Philippine government is ready to help those who want to go home, and that the embassies have contingency plans.