DoLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said 4,097 of these 14,097 are part of the 10,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have registered for the government’s repatriation program.

The 10,000 other Filipinos in Libya who have not yet registered for the repatriation program may still do so, said Baldoz, who added that before the tension in Libya, records showed that there were about 30,000 Filipinos in that country.

Of the 14,097 trapped Filipinos, 33 of them are in a school in Tripoli, where food is now rationed.

Baldoz said another 3,544 OFWs have been safely evacuated from the strife-torn country and arrangements for their flight to the Philippines are now being undertaken. Another 1,546 Filipinos have already boarded the government-charted ship, Ionian Queen, heading to Athens, Greece, where they will take a commercial flight to the Philippines.

“As of today (Wednesday), reports collated by the DoLE Middle East Crisis Monitoring Center place the number of Filipinos already out of Libya at 3,544. Arrangements for their onward transportation to the Philippine is in various stages,” Baldoz said.

She said that based from current DoLE data, there are already 612 OFWs who have already arrived at the country, while an additional 36 will arrive Wednesday. Another 180 OFWs from the delayed flight of the MidEastern Airlines will arrive in the coming days.

Aside from the government’s repatriation program, Baldoz said some multinational companies have also assured the Philippines that they will send home 13,000 OFWs if the need arises.

Baldoz said the government will continue to offer the repatriation program to the remaining 10,000 Filipinos who have not yet registered.

Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) brought back to Manila 61 OFWs who opted to flee the violence in Libya.

Arriving aboard a Gulf Air flight from Egypt via Bahrain, the workers who came from three different construction firms, were all happy to have reached Manila “alive and kicking.”

Amiel Cabajes, a 37-year-old steel fabricator working for the Dana Construction firm in Al Bayda, northeast Libya, said he was happy to have made it back home alive. “Masayang masaya ako at nakauwi ako sa Pilipinas ng buhay (I'm very happy because I arrived in the Philippines alive)!” Cabajes said.

The Surigao native disclosed that although their camp was not touched by the anti-government protesters, reports of other camps being torched and ransacked by the marauders made them fear for their lives.

“Madami nang sinunog at ninanakawan na mga kampo. Mabuti na lang at agad kaming na-evacuate ng employers naming papuntang Egypt (Many camps were already torched and lotted. Good thing our employers immediately oredered our evacuation to Egypt),” Cabajes said.

Cabajes said they rented three pickup trucks to bring all 26 Filipino employees to the Egyptian border of Salum.

Nicomedes Cunanan, another construction worker who was evacuated from their camp in Al Marj, narrated what they endured before reaching the Egyptian border.

“Nakatakot sa Al Marj kasi ang dami nang sinusunog na mga kampo lalo na yung pag-aari ng gobyerno (It's scary in Al Marj. A lot of camps, especially those owned by the government have already ben torched),” Cunanan said. “Nineteen kaming nakauwi galing sa kampo namin pero may 33 pa kaming kasamahan na naipit sa Tripoli dahil napalibutan na sila ng mga protesters (Nineteed of us got out of the camp but 33 of our camp mates got trapped in the middle of protesters).”

“Hindi naman sila gagalawin duon kasi mababait naman ang mga Libyano, kaso malamang ay mahirapan sila duon dahil wala silang mabibilhan ng pagkain (They'll be safe there because Libyans are nice, but they might have a problem with their food supplies because they'll have a hard time looking for a place to buy food).”

Cunanan said the 33 Filipinos are staying inside a school in Tripoli.

Residents of Libya's capital say prices for basic foodstuffs are skyrocketing and long lines form at bakeries for rationed bread.

One resident tells The Associated Press that the price of rice, a main staple, has gone up 500 percent amid the crisis, reaching the equivalent of $40 for a five kilogram (10 pound) bag. Bakeries are limited to selling five loafs of bread per family.

Meanwhile, the DoLE and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) came out with guidelines for relatives who may wish to call or e-mail their agency for updates or information on the situation of their OFWs in Libya.

For inquiries:
OWWA 24/7 Operation Center, Mobile 0917 898 6992
OWWA 24/7 Operation Center, Fixed Phone 551 15 60
POEA Assistance and Information Center 722 11 44
DoLE Call Center: Globe Fixed Phone (02) 908 29 17
PLDT Fixed Phone (02) 527 80 00
Globe Mobile Phone 2917

Email to send mails to:
OWWA 24/7 Operation Center owwa_opcenter@yahoo.com
POEA Assistance & Information Center info@poea.gov.ph
DoLE Call Center doletaskforceme@gmail.com

When making a call or writing an e-mail, prepare to provide the following information:
(a) Name of caller or sender, including contact information;
(b) Name of OFW, including address and other contact information (phone number, e-mail, etc.);
© Employer’s name, including address and contact information (phone number, e-mail, etc.); and
(d) Deploying or recruitment agency, including address and contact information (phone number, e-mail, etc.)

The DoLE said that after calls are received, the receiver (either the OWWA 24/7 Operation Center, POEA Assistance & Information Center, or DoLE Call Center) will send the information request to the POLO in Libya, with an instruction to return feedback within 24 hours. The caller should call again after 24 hours for update or information about his request.

For the OWWA 24/7 Operation Center, POEA Assistance & Information Center, and the DoLE Call Center operates 24/7.

Dimzaon said that calls to these information assistance centers are free. The OWWA 24/7 Operation Center also operates a “Libreng Tawag” for OFWs.

SAMUEL P. MEDENILLA, JEAN FERNANDO, ROY C. MABASA, and ANJO PEREZ, Manila Bulletin