DFA prepares to repatriate 252 Filipinos in Myanmar

BY ROY C. MABASA

A total of 252 Filipinos in Myanmar have signified their interest to be repatriated amid the recent military takeover and arrests of leading political figures in that country, including former Nobel peace prize winner and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced this on Tuesday, saying that the department and the Philippine Embassy in Yangon are finalizing a charter flight agreement to bring home those Filipinos.

“252 Filipinos have signified interest to be repatriated, embassy is in the process of getting confirmation of those Filipinos,” said DFA spokesperson Ivy Banzon-Abalos in a message to reporters.

Abalos said the DFA is preparing for a possible repatriation flight on Monday, Feb. 15.

There are more or less 1,000 Filipinos in Myanmar, according to DFA estimates.

The latest development contradicts the tweet made by Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday, who said that the “comparatively” few Filipinos in Myanmar are safe as he sees no need to extricate them at this time even when huge anti-coup protest rallies are being held in Yangon, Mandalay and in the capital Nay Pyi Taw.

Protesters in Myanmar have taken to the streets against the coup for three consecutive days, while also calling for the release of Suu Kyi from detention.

Suu Kyi, along with several other leaders of Myanmar’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy, were seized by the Tatmadaw – Myanmar’s military – in a pre-dawn raid on Feb. 1.