DFA places Gaza Strip under Alert Level 3, calls for voluntary repatriation ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday placed Gaza under crisis alert level 3 which calls for voluntary repatriation, as heavy Israeli bombardments continued to hit the Palestinian enclave. DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega confirmed the development to ABS-CBN News. He said only Gaza was under Alert 3, while Israel remained under Alert 2, which restricts non-essential movement for Filipinos and suspends deployment of OFWs. There are some 30,000 Filipinos in Israel, and 137 others in Gaza, from which the Palestinian militant group Hamas fired thousands of rockets in a surprise attack on Saturday. In response, Israel pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated enclave of 2.3 million people. At least 2 Filipinos have died in the conflict, authorities said. Several Filipinos in Gaza have requested for repatriation, but Philippine authorities said that mounting evacuation flights remained a challenge after Israel pounded Hamas. "Yung mga tiga-Gaza, may blockade kaya gumagawa pa tayo ngayon ng diplomatic contact para payagan silang may 70 na gustong Filipino [umuwi]," De Vega said. "Ang advice namin ay sumunod sa mga naririnig na 'wag pumunta sa mga Hamas na infra, na gusali ng Hamas dahil yun titirahin ng Israel," he said. Israeli forces said 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the onslaught -- the worst in the country's history. In Gaza, officials reported more than 1,000 people have been killed in Israel's sustained campaign of air and artillery strikes. By late Wednesday, the number of displaced people in Gaza had risen to around 338,000, the United Nations said. The UN humanitarian agency OCHA voiced alarm at the significant destruction of civilian infrastructure damaged in the shelling. Among other things, it said sewage facilities serving more than a million people had been hit by air strikes, leaving solid waste accumulating in the streets, posing a health threat. — With a report from Agence France-Presse

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more