Libya now safe for Filipinos – priest

A FILIPINO priest based in Libya Wednesday called on the government to lift the ban on deployment there as the security situation has stabilized.

Fr. Celso Larracas of St. Francis Parish in Tripoli, who is in Manila for a visit, led a prayer rally of hundreds of repatriated Filipino workers seeking the lifting of the work ban.

“Our repatriated [workers] are getting worried that the jobs they left in Libya could soon be taken away by workers from other countries like India and Pakistan,” Larracas said.

According to the priest, the peace and order situation in Libya had normalized except in two cities. Reconstruction in Libya had begun as companies and industries in many cities also resumed operations and productions, he said.

Recently, a representative from Libya to the Philippines, Abdulhadi Lahweej, had said Filipinos who left Libya can now safely return.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), however, said the government is not lifting the deployment ban to Libya yet.

Fr. Larracas said about 10,000 repatriated workers are complaining they could not find jobs in the Philippines.

“Engineers and other professionals want to return to their high-paying jobs in Libya. They earn as much as from $2,000 to $5,000 a month and it will be a big loss if they lose those jobs,” Fr. Larracas said.

The Philippines’ travel ban to Libya was imposed early this year following political tensions and it will remain until the security situation becomes more stable, the DFA said on Thursday.

Just last week, the DFA repatriated two Filipino maids hired by a relative of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. It was the result of high-level talks between officials of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and DFA.

The Philippine officials had asked for the workers’ release from their employers on compassionate grounds as their respective families were worried for their safety.