Pinoys in Libya continue to ignore PHL government's evacuation order

Some Filipinos in Libya have continued to ignore the Philippine government’s security warning and still defy the mandatory evacuation order from war-troubled areas, especially the capital Tripoli.

Philippine authorities have enforced a mandatory evacuation of OFWs, particularly those in Tripoli and neighboring areas within a 100-kilometer radius from the capital.

“Bakit kami pauuwiin? Wala namang magpapakain sa amin sa Pinas kapag umuwi kami,” said Teodick Sanchez Delantar, 43, storekeeper at Eni Greenstream BV Libyan Branch.

In an online interview with GMA News Online, Delantar pointed out, “Malayo kami sa kaguluhan. Maayos ang buhay ng pamilya namin dito. Kumbaga, ang gulo nasa Marawi, kami nakatira sa Luzon.”

Ricardo Castuera Gobres, who had experienced the First Libyan Civil War, also resisted the idea of going home to the Philippines.

“The fighting is happening in the outskirts of Tripoli [and] not in the city,” the 56-year-old procurement specialist at a local airline in Misurata also said in an online interview last December 22.

“Siguro, the best term kung bakit 'di ako umallis is my job and the salary. With free accommodation and food plus 100% remittance ng salary,” he said. 

Even 45-year-old lecturer Maria Cristina Arboleda at the University of Tripoli, who could have easily moved to Malta, is thinking twice about leaving Libya.

“There's no place like Libya. Work-wise, it's an excellent working condition for me, a great salary package with lenient work schedule, low cost of living, and no racial discrimination. Filipinos are loved and respected by the Libyan people. Life is just simple and easy.” —LBG, GMA News