OFW reveals some Filipinos willing to stay in Afghanistan

An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who managed to leave Afghanistan on Saturday said some Filipinos are still willing to stay in the now Taliban-controlled country as they needed to keep working to provide for their families.

"Marami pa rin po tayong mga kababayan na naroon sa Afghanistan na ninanais po ay makapanatili. Basically because trabaho po to support their families," said OFW Elmer Presa at the Laging Handa public briefing.

(We have many fellow Filipinos in Afghanistan who wanted to stay, basically due to the work to support their families.)

"They are receiving good wages, good pay, until dumating po itong kaguluhan ngayon. Kaya talagang marami po na masasabi nating apektado sa pagkakataong ito (until this turmoil came, I could say many were affected at this time)," he added.

Presa, who worked as a K-9 deputy manager in Afghanistan, narrated that he managed to leave via a military flight and was now in Doha, Qatar, together with 13 other Filipinos.

He said the Philippine Embassy in Qatar assured them they could travel back to the Philippines this Saturday.

"Nakalulungkot lang po kasi nagkaroon ng mga hindi inaasahan kaya medyo wala po tayo pansamantala sa trabaho (It is sad that these unexpected events occurred, that led to me temporarily losing my job)," Presa said.

"Napakabilis po ng pangyayari (events happened quickly)," Presa said of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan's districts and provinces, which they managed to accomplish in less than three months.

Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, was the last city to be taken over by the Islamic militant group.

With permission from his chief operating officer, Presa led the retrieval of other distressed OFWs.

He said the Taliban permitted him to round up his fellow OFWs.

"Awa ng Diyos napagbigyan tayo ng Taliban sa pakikipag-usap sa kanila upang maibalik nang ligtas ang mga tropa (Thank God we were granted permission by the Taliban as I negotiated with them to safely retrieve other Filipinos)."

Presa reported that more or less six OFWs managed to get flights to the UK, while some 30 Filipinos fled to Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Taliban plan to unveil a new governing framework for Afghanistan in the next few weeks, a spokesman for the movement said on Saturday, after the insurgents' swift takeover of the South Asian nation. — DVM, GMA News