DFA: 10 more Pinoys home from Syria

At least 10 more Filipinos were repatriated from strife-torn Syria Friday evening, the Department of Foreign Affairs said early Saturday. The DFA said the latest batch of Filipinos availed of the Philippine government's offer to repatriate them. "The Filipinos, all female, stayed at the Embassy's halfway house while negotiations [for their repatriation] were ongoing," the DFA said in a news release. It said they arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Friday evening aboard a Thai Airways flight (TG-624). The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Syria negotiated with the Filipinos' Syrian employers and with Syrian authorities for the issuance of exit visas. At least 1,161 Filipinos have been repatriated from Syria so far, it said. Meanwhile, the DFA reiterated crisis alert level 4 remains over Syria, entailing the mandatory evacuation of all Filipinos there. A Rapid Response Team, composed of DFA, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) personnel, remains in Syria to help out in the repatriation and to extract Filipinos in conflict-stricken areas, especially in the governorates of Homs, Hama, Idlib and Dara'a. "The DFA is doing its utmost to reach all Filipinos in Syria to inform them of the measures implemented by the Philippine government and get them out of harm's way," it said. — LBG, GMA News