Philippine government calls for OFW families to convince loved ones to leave Syria

The Philippine government urged on Sunday the families of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to encourage their loved ones to heed the call for them to leave Syria amid the looming attack by the United States. Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, in an interview over a state-run radio station, acknowledged that there were overseas Filipino workers who still refuse to leave Syria despite the escalating tensions there. "(This) is why we also sent out an appeal to their families ( here) to convince their loved ones to go home, or to at least evacuate to another place where their safety can be guaranteed," she said. Despite hesitance by some OFWs to be repatriated, Valte said that the staff of the Philippine Embassy in Damascus continue to convince them to come home. The Department of Foreign Affairs has reported that some 4,600 Filipinos from Syria have been repatriated since violence broke out there in March 2011.