DFA to Pinoys in Venezuela: Prepare for possible evacuation as crisis alert raised to level 2


(Updated 10:25 a.m.) The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised the crisis alert level for Venezuela from 1 (precautionary phase) to 2 (restriction phase) amid the clashes between the opposition and government supporters and security forces there.
 
In an advisory, the DFA said alert level 2 is issued when there are real threats to the life, security, and property of Filipinos arising from internal disturbance or external threat.
 
The DFA advised Filipinos in the area to limit non-essential movements, avoid public places, and prepare for possible evacuation.
 
Under alert level 2, the Department of Labor and Employment only allows overseas Filipino workers with existing contracts (balik-manggagawa) to return to their host country.
 
The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Mexico, which has jurisdiction over Venezuela, has already dispatched a consular officer to Caracas to provide on the ground assessment, coordinate with the Philippine Honorary Consul General in Venezuela, and assist the estimated 104 Filipino nationals in that country.
 
Reports said a Venezuelan soldier and a motorcycle driver died following a melee sparked by the opposition's barricading of a street in Caracas, bringing the death toll to 20. 

The DFA has also raised alert level 2 in Ukraine due to the ongoing standoff there between the host government and Russia. About 175 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are in Ukraine, 41 of them were employed as administrative and managerial workers while 30 were service workers.
 
Yemen is also under alert level 2, but this is already a downgrade from alert level 3 which was raised in December after a deadly attack on the Defense Ministry that resulted in the deaths of over 50 people, including seven Filipino health workers.
 
An estimated 1,300 Filipinos are in Yemen, many of them on visit visas, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). — Amita O. Legaspi/KG/RSJ, GMA News

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