Libya News: 86 Filipinos Want Repatriation

In a press briefing at Malacañang on Monday, Presidential Deputy Spokesperson Abigail Valte revealed that there are eighty six (86) Filipinos who have already manifested their desire to be repatriated from Libya.

An estimated 2,000 Filipinos are still in Libya with about 1,200 in Tripoli and the surrounding suburbs.

Valte said President Benigno Aquino III has directed all concerned government agencies to assess the situation of Filipinos in Libya and to ensure that not a single Filipino will be harmed in the heightened violence there.

Malacanang in a statement assured the families of Filipinos in Libya that the government has been exerting all the necessary efforts to ensure the safety of their relatives there and eventually bring them home.

Philippine Embassy officials in Libya was reportedly advised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) “to remain indoors due to the extreme danger caused by violence in the streets.”

Meanwhile, Libyan rebels have entered Tripoli and seized control of Moammar Khadafi's stronghold on Monday. Reports said rebels marched into the capital as residents celebrated the seen end of the four-decade-old dictatorship.

The rebel leadership reportedly claimed that the elite presidential guard protecting the Libyan leader had surrendered and two of his sons have been arrested.

Also, opposition leaders said Libya’s official television Al-Jamahiriya went off the air Monday afternoon. The report has not been verified.

But recent television and newspaper reports said the crisis is far from over as forces loyal to Khadafi continue to battle agains the rebels.