RP reunion of Pinay wives, Palestinians unlikely

Philippines - After escaping death in the Gaza Strip, all of the Palestinian evacuees - husbands of Filipinas - who are part of the latest evacuation out of the area, would not be allowed immediate entry into the Philippines, an immigration official said.

Lawyer Gary Mendoza, chief of the Philippine immigration regulation division, told GMANews.TV on Monday that the Palestinians need to secure first a temporary visit visa from neighboring Middle East countries.

Despite this hurdle, Mendoza said the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs has assured that special consideration would be given to the foreign spouses to expedite the immigration process.

Under Philippine immigration laws, the Palestinian nationals should first secure a temporary visit visa with countries like Egypt, Jordan or Israel, as the Philippines has no direct diplomatic relations with Palestine.

Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Bayani Mangibin told GMANews.TV in an interview on Monday that the 37 Filipinos are en route to the Gaza-Egypt border of Rafah. It is unclear how many Palestinian husbands are included in the evacuation.

"Egypt finally opened its border and they are letting the Filipinos in," Mangibin said.

Some Filipinos were hesitant at first to leave the conflict-ridden area as the Israeli government refused to let their Palestinian husbands to exit Gaza.

"Because of the successful effort of our Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, the Palestinian husbands are allowed to move out," Mangibin added. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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