PH ready to evacuate all OFWs from Korea

MANILA, Philippines – The government is prepared to “evacuate all” 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea “if and when needed,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Esteban Conejos said Wednesday.

“Everything is in place. We have an updated plan that addresses the security contingent arising in Korea. We will evacuate all if and when needed,” he said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net.

The constant tension in the Korean Peninsula starting with the North Korea’s nuclear testing about two years ago prompted the Philippine government to draw up a plan that includes mobilizing its “extensive network” of Filipino community leaders in dangerous situations, Conejos said.

The plan is regularly updated and the last update was on June 9, he said.

“Right now, the Philippine embassy in Seoul has raised alert level 1, which means heightened security for our nationals,” Conejos said. The plan involves four alert levels.

In his phone conversation with Philippine Ambassador to Seoul Luis Cruz, Conejos said the situation as of posting time was “quiet.”

“There have been no new [artillery] exchanges,” he said.

Asked if the Filipinos in South Korea were feeling anxious, Conejos said they were “concerned about the situation, hoping that it would de-escalate soon.”

The DFA official also said that he has not received any report of an unusually high number of OFW departures from South Korea.

“We have the usual number of returns,” Conejos said.

“Right now, they are always free to come home; coming home is an individual decision. But we will enforce compulsory evacuation if we reach alert level 3,” he added.

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies concerned with migrant workers and other overseas Filipinos to ensure their safety.

“We are closely monitoring it and I have tasked the relevant agencies to review their plans concerning the safety of our citizens there,” the chief executive said.

Conejos said the plan involved a two-step movement. “In case of escalation, we will move our people out of harm’s way from the danger zone to converge halfway in relocation sites. If the security situation deteriorates, we move them to evacuation centers, from where we will airlift them to safety,” he said.

The DFA official, who has been in charge of overseas Filipino workers in dangerous situations as in Somalia and Iraq, said Philippine military planes and ships, as well as commercial vessels, would be used in case of an evacuation.

Most of the 60,000 Filipinos in South Korea work in factories or as service workers deployed through the government-to-government Employment Placement System. Conejos pointed out that the same system puts the responsibility of repatriation on the employer.