Come home, Pacquiao tells Pinoys in Ukraine
FILE Sen. Manny Pacquiao.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao urged Pinoys still in Ukraine to come home to avoid getting caught in the conflict.
The presidential candidate further advised the concerned government agencies to ensure that distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Ukraine are given handbooks that would guide them and make them aware of emergency evacuation procedures.
In a statement on Thursday, Pacquiao said, “I join the people all over the world in praying for the immediate deescalation of the conflict in Ukraine.”
He emphasized the importance of prayer at a time when “people seem to be uncertain of what is right and just because of greed and lack of respect for others.”
Pacquiao said in Filipino, “I am asking our countrymen to, as early as now, evacuate [Ukraine] so they would not be caught in the conflict and lessen government worries as well as those of their loved ones.”
PH can do nothing but watch
According to Pacquiao the country, like other nations, can do nothing but watch as events unfold and be one with efforts to peacefully resolve the situation in Ukraine.
“I am urging our government agencies to make sure that OFW handbooks are available to and can be used by around 300 OFWs in distress at Ukraine for their safety,” he said.
The OFW manuals contain information essential and necessary for migrant workers so they would know what to do if they are in distress abroad and includes procedures they should undertake in cases requiring their immediate repatriation. —Jeannette I. Andrade
