First batch of Filipinos from Gaza to arrive in PH

CNN Philippines

A new life awaits dozens of Filipinos who escaped Gaza.  At last, they are set to arrive in the Philippines tomorrow.  But we still have kababayans who are stuck at the Rafah crossing.  Tristan Nodalo has the details.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 35 Filipinos and one Palestinian spouse are set to arrive in Manila on Friday after leaving

00:07 war-torn Gaza through the Rafa border.

00:10 They're arriving tomorrow for 30 p.m. via Qatar Airways at Terminal 3.

00:16 Five Filipinos out of the 14 nationals who crossed the border will be staying in Egypt.

00:20 Three of them have Egyptian family members, while a pregnant Filipina was not allowed

00:25 to board the plane.

00:26 She will be accompanied by her mother in Cairo.

00:28 One of course is pregnant, she won't be able to join the flight together with her mother.

00:34 She's already at 38 weeks and the doctor would not issue a certificate for her to travel.

00:42 Despite their ordeal, Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedine Tago says all of the Filipino

00:47 nationals who crossed the border remain in good health condition.

00:50 There was one physically alright, all of them, right?

00:54 There's no issues with injuries or physical harm.

00:59 Second, under such situation everyone would be stressed.

01:03 Only later on some of them admitted that they were already laughing when we were already

01:10 midway somewhere.

01:11 The challenge now is the situation at the Rafa border.

01:15 The crossing should have opened again.

01:17 It closed and we don't know now, Thursday, if it will open today.

01:21 We are six hours ahead.

01:23 Some Palestinian spouses also failed to pass the security checks.

01:27 They have approved 16 of the Palestinians, not all.

01:31 There were some who were not allowed because they did not pass the security checks.

01:36 So we are counting on the work being done diplomatically by various countries, including

01:42 the US, to reopen the border.

01:44 But of course security in the border is important.

01:49 Something about Hamas attacks.

01:50 A team from the embassy is on standby near the border.

01:54 We also have a team at the Rafa border, close to the Rafa border, waiting for the next groups

01:59 of Filipinos to be able to enter Egypt.

02:02 19 Filipinos decided to stay in Gaza despite the ongoing war.

02:06 It's hard to approve.

02:08 They're not OFWs so it's not because there's no work in the Philippines.

02:12 That is unlikely the reason.

02:13 Another reason is maybe they have no relatives here.

02:16 Maybe some of the Filipinos are OFWs or what, or they're not.

02:23 The DFA expects that more Filipinos will opt to cross the border as soon as it reopens.

02:27 Officials say the situation remains unpredictable and it will be best to leave Gaza while there's

02:33 still an opportunity to do so.

02:35 Tristan Udalo, CNN Philippines.

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