MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will not send another ship to evacuate its nationals from strife-torn Libya after a chartered vessel picks up on Thursday, August 14, the only batch of Filipinos in this round of sea evacuation.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters, however, that evacuation by land will push through.

Referring to Filipinos who have refused to evacuate by sea, Del Rosario said: “I think the Filipinos are always confident that we will come back for them. But I think we announced that…there will be no ships after this. It’s difficult to get the ship, and we don’t have the numbers to be able to support another ship.”

The Philippine government, after all, paid P78.2 million ($1.8 million*) to rent the 1,500-seater ship that came from Malta. (READ: Repatriating Filipinos in Libya could cost P169M)

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said 443 Filipino workers boarded the ship in Benghazi on Thursday morning, Manila time, and an estimated 365 Filipino workers will likely board the ship in Misrata on Thursday afternoon.

This means the DFA expects around 808 Filipinos to board the ship – around half its seating capacity. (READ: 200 Filipinos back out of PH-funded Libya evacuation)

Up to 15 individuals from other countries boarded the ship, Jose said.

Land evacuation possible

Despite the end of the the sea evacuation, Del Rosario pointed out that evacuation by land “goes very well from Tripoli to Tunisia,” with the Philippines evacuating around 150 Filipinos every other day.

In a media briefing later on Thursday, the DFA spokesman added that ending the sea evacuation will not pose a big constraint for the Philippine government.

Several borders have already opened to allow land evacuation, Jose explained. “Judging by the number, we will be able to evacuate them using the land border exits,” he said.

Up to 1,625 Filipinos from Libya have returned to the Philippines as of Tuesday, August 12, the DFA said.

This is equivalent to 12.5% of the 13,000 Filipinos in Libya before the Philippines began repatriating its nationals.

Thousands of Filipinos still refuse to leave Libya due to fear of joblessness in the Philippines. (READ: Filipinos in Libya: We can survive war, not joblessness)

Libya, however, has suffered chronic insecurity since dictator Moammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011, with the new government unable to check militias that helped to oust him. The new government has also been facing a growing threat from Islamist groups. – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com

*$1 = P43.46