56 Pinoys repatriated from Syria

At least 56 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) over the New Year weekend arrived in the Philippines from Syria amid escalating violence there.   The Filipinos arrived from Syria in two batches at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Saturday, according to a report of radio dzBB early on Monday.   One batch arrived aboard an Etihad Airlines flight while the other arrived aboard a Qatar Airlines flight, the report said.   For its part, the Department of Foreign Affairs said this brought to 490 the number of OFWs the government has helped bring home from strife-torn Syria since the start of the political crisis there in March 2011.   Last week, the DFA made a new appeal to some 4,557 Filipinos still in Syria to heed the government's call for mandatory repatriation due to the tension there.   "We are appealing to our kababayans in Syria to remove themselves out of harm's way while there is still time by getting themselves repatriated back to the Philippines," DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario said last week.   His call stemmed from the Philippine Embassy in Damascus' report that the capital remains on high alert following back-to-back car bombings there on December 23.   On December 22, the DFA cited the escalating violence in Syria in raising the crisis alert level there to "4," and calling for the mandatory repatriation of Filipino workers there.   The DFA said del Rosario went to Syria Saturday to ensure the conditions of Filipinos affected by the increasing tensions can be made as secure as possible.   Meanwhile, the DFA said the hotline of the Philippine Embassy in Syria is 00-963-116-132626. Families may also e-mail their requests and concerns through the Embassy's e-mail address pe.damascus@gmail.com, it said.   In Manila, the DFA also activated hotline numbers for families of Filipinos based in Syria, at 834-3245 and 834-3240. - VVP, GMA News