Lebanon OFW may get return ban exemption

A Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official assured Thursday that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Lebanon with special cases may be given exemptions by the government to allow them to go home to the Philippines and then return to their Lebanese employers.

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega acknowledged that cases like that of Evelyn Malaiba might get favorable attention following the death of a son in a motorcycle accident.

Malaiba, a housekeeper in Lebanon for 15 years, and dozens of other OFWs held a protest at the Philippine Embassy on Sunday to ask the government to lower the alert level in the country.

“Because Alert Level 3 is hoisted in Lebanon, we can go home, but we can’t come back here,” Malaiba said in an interview on DAILY TRIBUNE’s Usapang OFW.

“We can suggest to the Department of Migrant Workers to give her (Malaiba) an exemption. But they must understand that all decisions made by the government are for the benefit of the OFWs. Their safety is more important,” De Vega said in an interview with DAILY TRIBUNE.

“We will ask Secretary Hans Cacdac if she could be given an exemption,” he added.

De Vega said the Philippine government cannot lower the alert level in Lebanon at this time due to the conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group operating in Southern Lebanon.

De Vega explained that uncertainty prevails in Lebanon. Nonetheless, he said, he would ask the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Raymond Balatbat, about the security situation to see if the alert level could be lowered.

There are currently 17,500 OFWs in Lebanon.