「日刊まにら新聞」ウェブ

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he will travel to the border of Ukraine to facilitate the repatriation of Filipinos amid the ongoing conflict with Russia.

"I’m going with Assistant Secretary Jet Ledda and @georgexpineda my protocol to personally see to the safety of my people at the Ukrainian border. Deeply grateful to Poland. We’ll never forget this," Locsin said in his Twitter post on Friday.

During the ''Laging Handa'' virtual public briefing, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said Locsin will wait at the border of Poland and Ukraine to receive the first batch of the Filipino repatriates.

"Sec. Locsin said he will wait at the border of Poland to receive the first batch of repatriates. So we have to travel by land. But the DFA is on top of the situation and we are just waiting for our kababayan to tell us that they need repatriation and we will assist, and we will stay on the ground so long as it is necessary," she said.

Arriola said so far the Philippine government has accounted for a total of 181 Filipinos in Ukraine and as of Friday, 37 are on their way to Lviv for repatriation.

"Raising the mandatory repatriation, is up to the Secretary of Foreign Affairs if he will increase the alert level. But in the meantime, these are voluntary repatriations but we are repatriating, every Filipino who wants to go home, they just have to inform us so that we can help them," she said.

"The travel now is by land and through the border of Poland because the airports of Ukraine can no longer be used," she added.

Arriola said so far only Poland has agreed to accept Filipinos from Ukraine.

"So far there are no Filipinos who have crossed except from the six who have returned home. There were 37 from Kyiv going to Lviv and our embassy will facilitate their entry to Poland," she said.

Arriola also begged other Filipinos to contact or coordinate with the embassy of the Philippine government for assistance as the official data shows that there were at least 300 documented Filipinos in Ukraine.

"As for the rest of the Filipinos, we are begging, we are asking them, please inform the embassy through their contact numbers or the Honorary Consulate in Kyiv where you are so that we know how to help you and how to reach out to you," she said. Robina Asido/DMS