Israelis appeal for rescue of Hamas hostages, including Filipino By GMA Integrated News

Israelis are appealing to their government to implement measures to rescue the hostages of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which include a 33-year-old Filipino, according to JP Soriano's report on Unang Balita on Thursday. The report said Israelis have been holding protests to call on their government to take the hostages out of Gaza, a Hamas stronghold, without anyone getting hurt. A Reuters report on Wednesday said the Israeli government has confirmed that two Filipinos were among the estimated 220 hostages currently held by Hamas. But according to the JP Soriano in his report, the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv has yet to receive official confirmation that Filipinos are among those held hostage by Hamas. Among the photos of those abducted by Hamas presented during a press conference of the Israeli Foreign Ministry was that of a missing Filipino identified as Jimmy Gelienor Pacheco. Clarice, Pacheco’s wife, earlier said she saw in the videos circulating on social media that her husband was one of those abducted by Hamas members. In his last text message to his wife before he went missing, Pacheco said, "Pinasok na kami, hon, ingatan mo yung mga anak natin (They were able to go inside, hon. Take care of our children)." The Israeli government’s recent data showed that 138 Hamas hostages have foreign passports from 25 different countries, including 54 Thai nationals, 15 Argentinians, 12 Germans, 12 Americans, six French, six Russians, one Chinese, and one Sri Lankan. On October 15, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) placed Gaza City under Alert Level 4 in preparation for the possible ground offensive of Israeli forces against Hamas. GMA Integrated News team deployed in Israel saw several battle tanks of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which were next generation Merkava Mark 5, traveling to South Israel towards the direction of Gaza. DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo de Vega said Wednesday that three Filipinos are still in war-torn Gaza City despite the implementation of a mandatory evacuation by the Philippine government under Alert Level 4. Foreign victims According to the Reuters report, Thais also made up the largest single group of foreign dead and missing, with 24 confirmed killed and 21 unaccounted for. Thailand is one of the largest sources of migrant workers in Israel, with around 30,000 working in the agriculture sector, the report said, citing government data. Among other foreign nations that suffered heavy losses were the United States, with 34 killed and five missing; Ukraine, with 25 killed and two missing; France, with 23 killed and one missing; and Russia, with 23 killed and four missing. Five Chinese citizens were killed and one was missing, while Nepal had five killed and five missing. The Philippine government has so far confirmed that four Filipinos have died in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israel is home to at least 30,000 workers from the Philippines, majority working as caregivers and nurses. —Giselle Ombay/KBK, GMA Integrated News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more