Marcos on talks regarding housing Afghans: We’ve made progress but obstacles remain

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Monday that there have been progress made in the discussions on whether the government will allow the housing of Afghan nationals as requested by the United States.

In an interview with reporters, Marcos said there is no deadline on deciding over the matter. He said consultations are also ongoing with the Americans.

“Well, we have not given ourselves a deadline. What we are talking about is that we’re trying to see what are the problems, what are the issues arising and in so doing,  we are trying to find ways to remedy those issues that we feel are something that we have to deal with,” Marcos said.

“We have made some progress but there’s still some major obstacles to us being able to do it. But we continue to consult with our friends in the United States,” he added.

Marcos said he would like to manifest the Filipinos’ “instinct of hospitability,” however, this specific request of the US is complicated as there are political and security concerns.

“In a way, I would like to manifest the Filipino instinct of hospitability and as you know, many times have happened that there have been world situations around the world and may nagkakarefugee, hindi tinatatnggap, kahit saan tayo tinatanggap natin, hindi tayo kinakalimutan ng mga tinulungan natin. Ganyan talaga ang ugali ng Pinoy,” he said.

[In a way, I would like to manifest the Filipino instinct of hospitability and as you know, many times have happened that there have been world situations around the world and there would be refugees that are not accepted, but we accept them. We are not forgotten by those whom we've helped. That is our Filipino trait.]

“Ngunit ito ibang usapan to kasi may halong politika, may halong security, so medyo mas kumplikado ito [But this one has political, security issues ... so it is more complicated] so we’ll look at it very very well before making a decision,” he added. 

The request to house Afghan nationals was briefly raised by US President Joe Biden with Marcos during the latter’s state visit to Washington last May, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

“The Secretary of State directly raised this to me on a few occasions verbally and also in a letter…and in fact, President Biden also briefly raised the issue with President Marcos during the visit last May,” Manalo told senators during an inquiry in June.

The Department of Justice has been studying whether allowing the temporary stay of Afghan refugees in the Philippines is legal or not.

“That is still being reviewed by our legal department here. We still have to wait and see kung ano yung magiging resulta ng research nila [[what will be the result of their research]and that would be reflected in the legal opinion that they would render,” DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano said in late June. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News