PH gov’t ready to help Filipinos get out of Myanmar

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines sees the military coup in Myanmar as an “internal matter” that it should not meddle in, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.

Roque said the government was giving priority to helping Filipinos in Myanmar who wanted to return home.

Myanmar’s military staged a coup on Monday, detaining the country’s leaders, including the state counselor, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and declaring a state of emergency for one year.

“Our embassy in Myanmar is moving to provide assistance to all Filipinos. If some Filipinos want to go home, we will find a way to bring them home. If they want to seek temporary shelter in the embassy, we will find a way,” Roque said in a press briefing.

Military ships, planes

The Philippine military is ready to deploy ships and aircraft if necessary to bring Filipinos back home, he said.

He also reminded Filipinos in Myanmar to be careful in anything they do.

Roque said the Palace would refrain from commenting on events in Myanmar, as the military takeover was an internal matter to the country, although he wished for a return to normality.

“We expect that at the soonest possible, we hope it would return to normal, although what happened in Myanmar is an internal matter and we would not interfere in it,” he said.

Situation stable

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) gave assurance that Philippine officials were in touch with the Filipino community in Myanmar.

“At the moment, situation in Yangon and Mandalay seems stable, apart from COVID restrictions and mobile lines being down,” the DFA said.

“As standard, Philippine Embassy is reaching out to Filipinos in Myanmar through Filipino community networks … Embassy is able to communicate with Filcom through WhatsApp,” it added.

The DFA said there were 1,273 Filipinos in Myanmar as of June 2020. —WITH A REPORT FROM TINA G. SANTOS INQ

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