(Eagle News) — The first group of Filipino evacuees from Ukraine arrived in Poland over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The DFA said the evacuees were welcomed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., after attending the European Union Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in Paris.
The department said the DFA chief welcomed the evacuees on board a bus.
Food and bottled water were also distributed to the evacuees.
According to the department, the evacuation of affected Filipinos to Poland is part of the DFA’s efforts to ensure their immediate safety amidst the country’s conflict with Russia.
“We are on high-alert 24/7 to ensure that Filipinos are safe in this conflict. Our Embassies in Poland and Hungary have been working hard these past days to account for each Filipino in Ukraine, and to repatriate them as soon as possible. Our people only need to ask, and we will get them home safe,” the DFA chief said.
The department said Filipinos in Ukraine who wish to be repatriated may get in touch with the Philippine Embassy in Warsaw through the following contact details:
Email: [email protected]
Emergency Hotline: +48 604 357 396
Office Mobile Number: +48 694 491 663
Those who need repatriation assistance near the borders at Moldova and Romania may reach the Philippine Embassy in Budapest through the following contact details:
Hungary
Budapest PE Emergency Hotline: +36 30 202 1760
Assistance-To-Nationals Officer: +36 30 074 5656 (mobile);
+63 966 340 4725 (Viber)
Moldova
Consul Victor Gaina
Mobile number and WhatsApp: +37369870870
Email addresses: [email protected]; [email protected]
Filipinos may also get in touch with the DFA hrough the following social media accounts: https://www.facebook.com/DFAPHL; https://www.facebook.com/OFWHelpPH.
“The (DFA) continues to enjoin Filipinos in Ukraine to exercise caution and remain vigilant, and to immediately contact the Philippine Embassy team in Lviv or the Consulate General in Kyiv should they require any assistance,” the department said.
The Philippine government has said Ukraine is under an alert level 2, which means the repatriation of Filipinos there is voluntary.
