Source: PDI
Using what a high official called "smile diplomacy," some 440 Filipinos made it out of troubled Libya to Tunisia on Monday, through a desert route dotted by pro- and anti-government checkpoints, some manned by armed teenagers.
About a hundred more Filipinos await a similar land transport out of Tripoli, while in the coastal city of Benghazi the Philippine government has chartered a ship to get some 5,000 Filipinos to the island of Crete in Greece, according to acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario.
The ship leaves the Libyan coast Tuesday carrying some 2,700 Filipinos and will make another trip for the evacuees from Benghazi, a city now controlled by anti-government forces, Del Rosario told the Inquirer.
On the phone from Djerba, Tunisia, Del Rosario said he and the Filipino evacuees motored out of Tripoli in about 40 vehicles driven by Arabian locals and hired by the Philippine Embassy.
En route to Djerba in a six-hour drive through the desert, he said, they encountered up to 20 checkpoints, a pro-government demonstration ''that crowded out our vehicles," and the sound of distant gunfire that at one point forced them to make a U-turn and seek an alternative route.
"An hour or two from Tripoli, we were met by pro-government forces, a demonstration, a rah-rah kind of thing. We had to do some negotiations, what you call 'smile diplomacy,'" Del Rosario said.
The 400 Filipinos brought to Djerba were temporarily housed in private homes rented by the Philippine government. Earlier, some 100 Filipinos made to the Tunisian city out of Libya on their own, Del Rosario said.
From Djerba, a chartered flight on Monday morning (afternoon in Manila) was to take an initial batch of 187 evacuees to Dubai. From there they can take connecting commercial flights to Manila, the secretary said.
Del Rosario said Philippine officials have set up a central command post in Djerba, with the overall operations headed by Undersecretary Esteban Conejos.
On top of the Benghazi evacuations is Ambassador Eric Endaya, while Philippine Ambassador to Libya Al Vicente oversees departures from Tripoli.
Other outposts have been set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Libya's eastern border with Egypt, and on the western side with Tunisia, he said.
Download our free toolbar here
Using what a high official called "smile diplomacy," some 440 Filipinos made it out of troubled Libya to Tunisia on Monday, through a desert route dotted by pro- and anti-government checkpoints, some manned by armed teenagers.
About a hundred more Filipinos await a similar land transport out of Tripoli, while in the coastal city of Benghazi the Philippine government has chartered a ship to get some 5,000 Filipinos to the island of Crete in Greece, according to acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto del Rosario.
The ship leaves the Libyan coast Tuesday carrying some 2,700 Filipinos and will make another trip for the evacuees from Benghazi, a city now controlled by anti-government forces, Del Rosario told the Inquirer.
On the phone from Djerba, Tunisia, Del Rosario said he and the Filipino evacuees motored out of Tripoli in about 40 vehicles driven by Arabian locals and hired by the Philippine Embassy.
En route to Djerba in a six-hour drive through the desert, he said, they encountered up to 20 checkpoints, a pro-government demonstration ''that crowded out our vehicles," and the sound of distant gunfire that at one point forced them to make a U-turn and seek an alternative route.
"An hour or two from Tripoli, we were met by pro-government forces, a demonstration, a rah-rah kind of thing. We had to do some negotiations, what you call 'smile diplomacy,'" Del Rosario said.
The 400 Filipinos brought to Djerba were temporarily housed in private homes rented by the Philippine government. Earlier, some 100 Filipinos made to the Tunisian city out of Libya on their own, Del Rosario said.
From Djerba, a chartered flight on Monday morning (afternoon in Manila) was to take an initial batch of 187 evacuees to Dubai. From there they can take connecting commercial flights to Manila, the secretary said.
Del Rosario said Philippine officials have set up a central command post in Djerba, with the overall operations headed by Undersecretary Esteban Conejos.
On top of the Benghazi evacuations is Ambassador Eric Endaya, while Philippine Ambassador to Libya Al Vicente oversees departures from Tripoli.
Other outposts have been set up by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Libya's eastern border with Egypt, and on the western side with Tunisia, he said.
