• 2 months ago
Unang Balita is the news segment of GMA Network's daily morning program, Unang Hirit. It's anchored by Arnold Clavio, Susan Enriquez, Ivan Mayrina, and Mariz Umali, and airs on GMA-7 Mondays to Fridays at 5:30 AM (PHL Time). For more videos from Unang Balita, visit http://www.gmanetwork.com/unangbalita.

#GMAIntegratedNews #KapusoStream

Breaking news and stories from the Philippines and abroad:
GMA Integrated News Portal: http://www.gmanews.tv
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gmanews
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gmanews
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gmanews
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/gmanews

GMA Network Kapuso programs on GMA Pinoy TV: https://gmapinoytv.com/subscribe
Transcript
00:00Let's talk about the chaos in Lebanon. We learned about the situation there from the Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Divega.
00:08Usec Divega, good morning to you.
00:10Good morning.
00:12Sir, please give us an idea, our viewers, what is the current situation in Lebanon?
00:19Is the chaos only focused on Beirut or the incidents of chaos are scattered?
00:26The chaos is not focused on Beirut. It's only on the southern border with Israel.
00:31Because Israel and Hezbollah, the Hezbollah militants are on the border.
00:37They always send missiles to the Israel border and Israel will retaliate.
00:43There are military or violent attacks.
00:48Beirut is still peaceful. There is tension.
00:52The ambassador said the situation is tense, but the life in the city is normal.
00:57That's why our countrymen want to leave the city because they are used to the situation in the Middle East.
01:08I want to assure my fellow OWs and other Filipinos that Beirut is not a war zone.
01:17But we don't want a situation where suddenly there's a war in Gaza or Sudan.
01:25It's hard for Filipinos to evacuate.
01:27As long as possible, we want to repatriate as many as possible.
01:31That's why we have voluntary repatriation.
01:34How many people have signed up to repatriate, Usec?
01:40It started last November and December.
01:43There are 356, including those who were repatriated by migrant workers,
01:48the OWs and those who were repatriated by the funding of the DFA for the immigrants.
01:56There are 356 who went home.
01:58There are 738 as of now.
02:01But there are a lot.
02:02738 are pending because they are waiting for their exit.
02:07If you see that there are roughly 11,000 or 12,000 Filipinos, according to the figures,
02:1412,000 to 11,000 Filipinos are in Lebanon.
02:17Maybe there are more of them because there are undocumented.
02:22If there are 11,000 or 12,000, there are less than 10 percent of those who have signed up.
02:29Most of them are either undocumented or those who have just arrived, less than two or three years.
02:37That's why they are dependent because they are not used to this life.
02:47Usec, we are not asking for the exact number because there are undocumented.
02:56We are not asking for the exact number because we have repatriated from Lebanon twice,
03:02including in 2009 or so.
03:05There was a war there.
03:07So we repatriated several thousand.
03:09Recently, the estimates were about 17,000.
03:14The number of Filipinos in Lebanon is 11.5 or 11 to 12.
03:19So we are using the Filipino community, the DFA and MWU is using the contacts.
03:27The Secretary-General can explain how many they are.
03:31But everyone knows how to contact and use this voluntary repatriation program.
03:39Usec, there's a flight.
03:41The airports are open. We don't have restrictions on letting them go home, if ever.
03:46In fact, there are three calls to go home.
03:49There are a few who go home every month.
03:52That's why we want to do this.
03:56The airport is still open.
03:58The Middle East airlines are still open.
04:00European airlines are flying to Lebanon.
04:03If there's a war, we plan to evacuate through the northern ports.
04:09This has already happened.
04:11Hopefully, it won't happen.
04:13But the embassy has a contingency plan.
04:16Usec, in southern Lebanon, how many of our countrymen have been there?
04:20Well, supposedly, the ambassador told us,
04:23not exactly, but there are three kills.
04:25Less than 100 in the southern city.
04:30But the border itself, where there's a war, where there's a flood, there are no Filipinos there.
04:36Last year, and even before, there were a handful, maybe less than one dozen,
04:45but they are not there anymore.
04:48There are no Filipinos on the border.
04:51But southern cities that are close to the border, maybe one hour away or so,
04:55a few kilometers, maybe 50 kilometers away, there are Filipinos.
04:59We are calling on them to go to Beirut.
05:03The problem is, and to go to the Philippines if possible.
05:06These are our countrymen.
05:08They haven't left their countrymen yet.
05:12Usec, what are our considerations for us to declare a mandatory repatriation status in Lebanon?
05:20Mandatory if there's a total breakdown of peace and order.
05:24A good example is Gaza.
05:26It's a war.
05:28We're hoping that it won't break out.
05:30Second, the charter planes and ships should be ready.
05:35We're just preparing them now.
05:38As Ambassador Raymond Balatbach and his team said,
05:41Labor Attaché Alex Padayan, if we announce alert level four and there's no one left to go home,
05:49then it's a failure.
05:51We don't want to give an alarmist situation because life in Lebanon is still normal.
05:58But there are many countries, including China, India, Saudi Arabia,
06:02and some other countries who are calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon before there's a war.
06:09Okay. Usec, thank you very much for that update.
06:13We will continue to update you on the situation in Lebanon.
06:17We talked to DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega.
06:20Kapuso, for the latest news, visit and subscribe to GMA Integrated News on YouTube.
06:26For Kapuso Abroad, join us on GMA Pinoy TV and www.gmainews.tv.

Recommended