MANILA – An outreach activity by the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon has been postponed due to “multiple explosions” that have recently occurred in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In an advisory posted on its social media pages, the Philippine Embassy announced that the One Stop Shop event, scheduled on Sunday (29 September), is now postponed until further notice.
“The Philippine Embassy regrets to inform you that the One Stop Shop event, scheduled for Sunday, 29 September 2024 at the Boghossian Theater, Bourj Hammoud, has been postponed until further notice due to ongoing security concerns following the multiple explosions that have recently occurred in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut,” the advisory read.
The embassy mentioned that the safety and well-being of staff, volunteers, attendees and the Filipino community in Lebanon remains the top priority.
Courtesy of Philippine Embassy in Lebanon / DFA
Earlier, the Philippine government stated that it is “seriously considering” placing Lebanon under Alert Level 4, as the country continues to be bombarded by Israel whose targets are Hezbollah militant members residing in some parts of the country, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Friday.
During a press briefing, DFA Undersecretary for Migration Eduardo Jose De Vega said that is no “mass repatriation” of Filipinos in Lebanon yet, but that the government is on standby and ready to implement one once the need arises.
De Vega noted that Israel has confirmed that there are no plans for a “ground invasion” of Lebanon, but the Philippine government still urges Filipino nationals to avail of the voluntary repatriation program.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Raymond Balatbat mentioned that majority of the Filipinos in Lebanon, especially Filipino community leaders are “very hesitant to leave,” which is a sign that “they still feel relatively safe in Lebanon.”
"Majority of them, the old-timers, are adamant that they will not leave whatever happens, that they will survive this conflict. And these are the leaders," Balatbat said.
The envoy, who joined the press briefing virtually, said the official number of Filipinos in Lebanon is around 11,000 but this could be higher due to “undocumented” nationals.
Of this number, the embassy is processing the return of some 1,300 Filipinos, with the next batch of repatriation expected to take place in the first week of October depending on the commercial flights in Beirut’s international airport.
Balatbat also mentioned that the 196 Filipinos residing in southern Lebanon, where the heavy fighting is concentrated, have all fled and are now taking shelter in safer places in the country.
Meanwhile, no Filipino have been hurt so far in the series of Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, which have killed over 600 since Monday, according to local reports.
“So far, still no Filipino has been reported injured due to the wake of attacks against Hezbollah targets in the past few days, you can sense that there is an escalation of the attacks against Hezbollah but they have not yet resulted in injury to a Filipino,” De Vega said.
DFA has already “strongly advised” Filipino nationals currently residing in Lebanon to “seriously consider” leaving the country while commercial flights are still available.
The advisory from the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon was released after the country experienced “unprecedented explosions of beepers”, resulting in at least 11 confirmed fatalities and more than 2,800 injuries.
According to reports received by the Embassy, the explosions predominantly occurred in the southern suburbs of Beirut, South Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley.
Last week, Lebanon was rocked with explosions as beepers or pagers used by members of the militant group Hezbollah simultaneously detonated, killing civilians as well.
According to reports, Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that the pagers belonged “to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions” and blamed the Israeli government for the attacks.
“While this is happening, the Philippines reiterates its call to all parties to prevent further escalation and urge for a peaceful solution to the conflict in the region— a very important region where millions of overseas Filipinos work in reside,” De Vega said.
