00:00 You're watching the Source on CNN Philippines.
00:04 I'm Pinky Webb.
00:05 After the Foreign Affairs Department raised alert level 3 in Lebanon, Filipinos there
00:09 are urged to leave immediately and avail of the government's repatriation program.
00:13 DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said they should maximize the chance to go home amid
00:18 the rising tensions between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants.
00:22 Let's go straight to the source of the story.
00:24 We have Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Raymond Balatbat.
00:27 Ambassador, thank you so much for your time and welcome to the program.
00:34 Good morning Pinky and good morning to all the viewers of CNN the Source.
00:37 Sir, first of all I want to ask how you're doing together with your team and the Filipinos
00:44 also there in Lebanon.
00:46 We at the embassy are okay.
00:51 We are closely monitoring the situation here.
00:55 We just had a meeting yesterday with the leaders of the Filipino community and we informed
01:01 them of our contingency plan and they're ready to disseminate information on our repatriation
01:08 program to their members.
01:13 How big is the Filipino community there, Ambassador?
01:18 It's around 17,500.
01:21 17,500 and so far how many have actually signified their intention to go home?
01:28 Well, we only posted it around Saturday night and on Sunday morning when we held our meeting
01:38 with the Filipino community leaders, we already received 59 applications.
01:44 59 applications.
01:45 So I'm sure it's a lot more.
01:48 Why do you think with the number of about 17,000 Filipinos right now, only 59 so far
01:56 want to go home, Ambassador?
01:58 Why is it so few?
02:02 Well it's the first, it was just overnight so that means I expect it to grow a lot larger
02:10 and well, it's quite normal for the Filipinos to really, especially the long-serving Filipinos
02:21 here, they're quite immune to this crisis.
02:27 They've been through a lot of crisis, especially those who have been here for 20, 30, 40 years.
02:33 Actually it's the newcomers who are really a bit very worried about the situation.
02:38 They're shaken, I'm sure.
02:40 May I ask you, Ambassador, among the 59 that have signified their intention to come home,
02:47 are they mostly living in the southern portion where there are, maybe we would call it the
02:55 more dangerous areas?
02:59 Of the 59, only three actually came from the southern Lebanon.
03:07 Most of the applicants were from the Beirut and Mount Lebanon area.
03:11 I see.
03:13 Where is Mount Lebanon area?
03:17 Mount Lebanon is a governorate actually.
03:21 It's near, it's a part of, it's a cluster of provinces that's been named Mount Lebanon.
03:29 It's very near the capital Beirut, where most of the Filipinos live.
03:33 Yes, it's also near Beirut, because I can imagine most of the Filipinos are actually
03:40 in Beirut.
03:41 Can you give us, Ambassador, a picture of the situation there?
03:47 Well, there's a lot, the intensity and frequency of the military exchanges, the mortars, the
03:56 artillery, the missiles, the missile exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel.
04:03 Have been increasing in frequency over the last few days.
04:08 Foreigners are being urged to leave by their embassies.
04:15 And a number of airlines have already been cutting down on the flights to Beirut.
04:23 And we heard that a number of Lebanese families living near the border, southern border with
04:30 Israel have already left the area and have come here to Beirut.
04:36 So there's a lot of uncertainty and that is causing really this panic among people here.
04:50 My question is, trying to understand the situation, Ambassador, and I'm sure you'll be able to
04:57 give us a clear picture on this.
05:00 If the problem areas are in the southern part, both between the Hezbollah and the Israeli
05:08 Defense Force or IDF, shouldn't the majority of those in the south have already left?
05:17 Is it like there are still a lot of people in the southern portion, which is probably
05:23 the problem or dangerous area?
05:26 Well, there are a lot of Lebanese living in that area.
05:32 And it's the danger because you don't really know what will happen in the next few days,
05:41 whether the military exchanges in that area would spill over.
05:51 The most recent conflict between Hezbollah and Israel occurred in 2006.
05:57 So it's fairly recent.
06:00 And of course, people, especially the Lebanese, recall that incident.
06:09 Why is it, do you think, that only three Filipinos from the southern area have actually signified,
06:17 have said that they wanted to go home?
06:20 I know you said that the numbers will change.
06:22 Well, yeah, maybe.
06:25 Well, first of all, it was the first day, it was the first day of the posting of the
06:31 announcement.
06:32 Actually, there are only 122, 122 Filipinos that we have accounted for who live in the
06:44 southern area, southern Lebanon.
06:47 Some of them have already left, but some of them are still there, well, because their
06:52 employers are still there.
06:55 Aside from those who have said that they want to leave, what are the other problems?
07:01 What kind of assistance are other Kababayans asking the embassy?
07:09 Actually, even before this conflict between Israel and Hamas, Lebanon has already been
07:17 in a crisis mode.
07:19 In 2019, they had the economic crisis.
07:22 In 2020, the Beirut blast.
07:26 And then 2021, the pandemic.
07:30 The Philippine embassy has been repatriating Filipinos during all these times.
07:35 And actually, this is just, this alert level formalizes what we have already been doing
07:41 since 2019.
07:44 There are a host of problems in Lebanon, and Filipinos, of course, would want to be repatriated,
07:53 given the very difficult situation now in Lebanon.
07:58 Maybe as a last question, sir, are you experiencing problems on, or are Kababayans for that matter,
08:07 food supply, water, you know, the basics that are needed day to day?
08:16 As of now, there's still no problem.
08:18 But if there is, well, if the conflict spills over, I'm sure there will be problems on that.
08:32 Thank you so much, and take care of yourself together with the team and our Kababayans.
08:38 Maraming salamat, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon, Raymond Balatbat.
08:42 Maraming salamat din po, Ms. Pinky.
08:45 Ingat po kayo.
08:46 Thank you for joining us here on The Source.
08:49 I'm Pinky Webb.
08:50 You're watching CNN Philippines.
08:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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