MANILA, Philippines – Out of the 134 Filipinos left in Gaza, only 43 are expected to leave the area starting Sunday, November 5, because many of them want to stay with their Palestinian spouses who are not being allowed by Israel to exit with them.

According to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, Israel has permitted all 134 Filipinos in Gaza to leave in batches. But while that permission extends to their Filipino-Palestinian children, it does not extend to their Palestinian spouses, forcing upon Filipinos the painful decision of whether or not to leave and split their families apart.

“No Palestinian national among the Filipinos, meaning to say, the relatives of the Filipinos – no spouses are going to accompany them. They don’t have the clearance to leave Gaza. And because of that, now we’re not certain how many of the Filipinos will be wanting to leave, although they may already start to leave,” De Vega said in a news forum on Saturday, November 4.

The first batch of 20 Filipinos will leave Gaza on Sunday, after which another 30 will be allowed to leave. However, de Vega said that only 23 Filipinos have decided to go after the initial batch, meaning that the other slots allotted for the Philippines may be given to citizens from other countries who also wish to leave.

“So far, only 43 now of the Filipinos have signified that they definitely want to leave Gaza at any moment. However, all of them have the exit permit. And again, the reason why it’s only 43, it’s because a lot of them do not want to leave their Palestinian spouses or parents,” De Vega added.

The DFA undersecretary urged them to leave while they could and return once the fighting ceased. Israel has relentlessly pummeled the war-torn area with air strikes while its troops pushed through the ruined streets. The civilian death toll has already passed 9,000. (READ: UN experts say ceasefire needed as Palestinians at ‘grave risk of genocide’)

“At the very least, our nationals there are allowed, and we’re telling them: ‘Please go home. You can always come back to Gaza when the situation clears,'” De Vega also said.

Most of the Filipinos in the besieged Palestinian territory call Gaza their home. De Vega said that many of the Filipinos met their Palestinian spouses in other countries in the Middle East or were university classmates in the Philippines before they married and moved to Gaza.

Must Read

Filipinos in Gaza face difficult choice: Flee or leave behind Palestinian family

It is Israel that decides who is allowed to leave Gaza and enter Egypt through the Rafah Crossing. Israel processes around 500 names a day, but so far, they have only permitted foreigners or Palestinians with dual citizenship to exit.

“Sinubmit din natin mga pangalan. Nakiusap din tayo. Pero from the beginning, sinabi nila hindi nila maga-guarantee ang mga Palestinians,” De Vega said in a separate DZBB interview on Saturday. 

(We also submitted their names. We tried to negotiate. But from the beginning, they said that they can’t guarantee that Palestinians can leave.)

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, November 3, that Israel “promised” that Filipinos in Gaza would be allowed to leave by “Saturday at the latest,” with buses ready to ferry them to the Philippine Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.  

Marcos also acknowledged this problem, saying that many Filipinos remain “undecided” about whether or not to leave their Palestinian spouses behind for their safety.

“There is also a complication because some of the Filipino nationals, mga babae na nakapangasawa na [ng] Palestinian…. Hindi pinapalabas ‘yung mga Palestinian. So, many of them are undecided kung gusto nilang umalis o hindi dahil, siyempre, ayaw nilang iwanan ang asawa nila, ayaw nilang iwanan ‘yung kanilang anak,” he said.

(There is also a complication because some of the Filipino nationals, the women who are married to Palestinians…. Palestinian nationals are not allowed to leave. So, many of them are undecided if they want to leave or not because, of course, they don’t want to leave behind their spouses, their children.)

For the Filipinos that would flee Gaza, the DFA said it would cover all their expenses, including transportation and accommodation in Cairo and the flight back to Manila.

“We’ll be working with that, and remember, they are not coming home for good – they will most likely return to Gaza once the situation has cleared. But we’re working with that. It’s a different set of [aid] packages from what we’ve seen with OFWs (overseas Filipino workers),” De Vega said. – Rappler.com