AFP assets deployment plan stays amid easing of Mideast unrest

FILE: Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in Quezon City on Monday (June 10, 2019). (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)

MANILA — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday said plans to deploy Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) assets and personnel in the Middle East are still in place despite the lifting of mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in Iran and Lebanon.

This as the mandatory repatriation from Iraq remains in effect while Filipinos in Iran, Libya, and Lebanon who wish to come home because of the recent tensions will be assisted by the government.

“Personnel to be deployed in the conflict areas will exclusively assist in the repatriation and humanitarian operations,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement, quoting Lorenzana.

He added that the DND is also in close coordination with all concerned agencies and ready to provide whatever support is necessary for the repatriation efforts to ensure the safety of Filipinos in the Middle East.

The Inter-Agency Committee, chaired by Lorenzana, is tasked to oversee the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East.

The committee is composed of the National Security Adviser as the Vice-Chair, and the Secretaries of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Transportation (DOTr), as members.

The DOLE earlier said there is no more mandatory repatriation for OFWs in Iran and Lebanon following the downgrading of alert levels in these countries.

Alert level 2 is currently raised in Lebanon while there is no more alert level in Iran.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), however, said a deployment ban remains in effect in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Iran launched missiles that targeted two airbases in Iraq which houses US troops.

This is in retaliation to Washington’s drone strike in Baghdad which killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani on January 3.