Although there were no reported Filipinos hurt in violence that erupted between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday, Aug. 19, assured that contingency plans are in place in case the need for a mandatory evacuation arises.

People gather near a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, July 30, 2024. An Israeli airstrike hit Hezbollah's stronghold south of Beirut Tuesday evening causing damage, a Hezbollah official and the group's TV station said. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega gave an update on the Filipinos’ situation in Lebanon, as well as factors to consider to raise alert level 4 there.

“Yun directly affected wala pong alam yung embassy na Filipino dun mismo sa border (In terms of directly affected, the embassy doesn’t know any Filipino there at the border),” he said.

“Wala pang nasasaktan dahil sa nangyayari (No one is hurt yet because of what’s happening),” the official added.

De Vega explained that although 85 percent of the 11,000 Filipinos in Lebanon are in Beirut, where there is currently no war as the violence is limited in the border between Lebanon and Israel, there is still a need to repatriate as many Filipinos who would want to.

“Kasi baka lumawak pa (It may spread). It may spread to regional conflict. Tulad nang nangyari in 2006 buong Lebanon may gulo, kaya kailangan natin mag-repatriate ng mga Pilipino. So, habang maaga pa lang nanawagan kami (Like what happened in 2006 when the whole of Lebanon had a conflict, that’s why we needed to repatriate Filipinos. So, we’re making a call as early as now),” he said.

Around 1,094 Filipinos have already expressed their intentions to come home since the DFA raised alert level 3 (voluntary repatriation) in the country last October to November, De Vega shared.

Of that number, some 356 Filipinos were already repatriated, leaving some 738 waiting for their exit clearances.

“Karamihan basta sanay na dun, matagal na dun, parang sila sanay na sila paminsan-minsan nagkakakaroon ng regional tension (Most who have been there long are used to regional tension from time to time),” he stated.

De Vega also said there is no need yet to raise Alert Level 4 in the country because that meant a “total breakdown ng peace and order,” making it uninhabitable such as Gaza and certain parts of Myanmar, Sudan, and Afghanistan.

“Hindi pa tayo umaabot sa Lebanon dahil karamihan sa Lebanon ay mayroon pang operations, ordinary life activities (We haven’t reached that point yet in Lebanon because there are still operations, ordinary life activities there),” he said, adding that Philippine Ambassador to Beirut Raymond Balatbat has been updating them.

But in case the need arises for a mandatory evacuation, De Vega said the DFA would follow the protocol activated during the 2011 Arab Spring, where the Philippine government hired ships to transport Filipinos to ports from where they can travel back to Manila.

Quoting Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Arnel Ignacio, the DFA official said that the agency can also send a Rapid Response Team to help with the evacuation.

On Saturday, Aug. 17 (Manila time), an attack killed nine people as Hezbollah traded fire with Israel almost on a daily basis since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Hezbollah is an ally of Palestinian group Hamas, which is under fire in Gaza amid Israel’s retaliation.

Lebanon is reportedly struggling with a “total blackout” after a state-run power firm ran out of gas amid the cross-border assaults.