OFW hurt after jumping off apartment building in Lebanon

Desperate to return to the Philippines, an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) suffered injuries after leaping from the second floor of her employer's apartment in strife-torn Lebanon. The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said contract worker Vanessa Butalan was rushed to an undisclosed hospital. She was given medical attention for injuries on her lower back. OWWA administrator Marianito Roque told radio station DZRH that Butalan's employer had refused to let her leave. An estimated 34,000 Filipinos are based in Lebanon, the third largest number of foreign nationals in the strife-torn country. The government has raised alert level 4, or forced evacuation, for OFWs in southern Lebanon, where Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah militants have been engaged in fierce clashes. The third batch of OFWs from Lebanon arrived Wednesday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The 37 workers were onboard a Cathay Pacific flight. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Gilbert Asuque said a fourth batch composed of 119 OFWs is scheduled to arrive Wednesday evening aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 307 from Hong Kong. A total of 150 more OFWs will also come in from Thursday to Saturday. The first batch of the evacuees arrived aboard a chartered flight of Jordal Aviation in Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, at around 3 p.m. Sunday. Three women with children were among the first of the 229 passengers that came out of the plane. A total of 225 workers returned from Lebanon around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday aboard a chartered Jordan Aviation flight. They comprised the second batch of OFWs repatriated from Lebanon. Three of the repatriates were taken Tuesday night to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) for treatment from "war shock." Radio station DZBB reported that as of Wednesday morning, two of the Filipino workers were still under observation while the third was allowed to go home.-GMANews.TV