(Eagle News)-The first batch of Filipinos to be repatriated from Iraq will be flown to Manila on Sunday, the Department of National Defense said.
DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the 14 Filipinos are so far in the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad and will be brought to Doha, Qatar before they fly back here.
Andolong said Special Envoy to the Middle East and concurrent Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu was already in Qatar to implement the repatriation.
Cimatu is also “constantly assessing the situation in Iran, Iraq, Libya and other neighboring states,” he said, noting that the situation as of Saturday in the area “is still unstable.”
He said authorities were also monitoring Kuwait.
“The Alert Level within an area covering a 100-km radius from and including Tripoli, Libya was raised to Level 4 (mandatory evacuation). Outside the said 100-km radius, it remains at Alert Level 2,” he said.
Earlier, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the mandatory repatriation applies to OFWs in Iraq.
Tensions in the regions rose after a US airstrike killed top Iranian military official Qassem Soleimani.
Iran, in retaliation, fired missiles at US targets in Iraq.
