By RONNIEL C. DE GUZMAN
A Philippine Air Force (PAF) C-130 "Hercules" cargo plane carrying 24 more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families arrived at 5 p.m. yesterday at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City as violence continued to mount in the strife-torn East Timor capital of Dili. They formed the second batch of Filipino evacuees from East Timor.
PAF spokesman Maj. Augusto dela Peña said an 11-man PAF flight crew from the 220th Airlift Wing headed by its pilot, Maj. Dante Benitez, and co-pilot Maj. Donald Madarang left Villamor Air Base at 10 p.m. last Sunday for a brief stop in Darwin, Australia, before flying to Dili.
The Air Force was directed by the Philippine government to airlift OFWs and their dependents from East Timor who were caught in the violence that erupted in East Timor last month. The clashes started when 600 East Timorese soldiers were sacked for protesting alleged discrimination in promotions in favor of their counterparts from the western part of the country.
East Timor, considered as one the youngest countries in the world, is divided into two ethnic groups.
Philippine authorities said more than a hundred Filipinos are still in East Timor.
Filipino workers started leaving East Timor after one of five Filipino peacekeepers there, Chief Inspector Edgar Layon, was injured when soldiers opened fire on unarmed policemen last May 25, killing nine people and wounding 27 others, Philippine and UN officials said. Layon suffered a bullet wound in the abdomen.
Last May 28, the first batch of 65 OFWs and their dependents was evacuated from East Timor on board a C-130 plane.
President Arroyo along with Overseas Workers and Welfare Administration and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) officials welcomed the returning OFWs at the PAF base in Pasay City.
About 200 Filipinos work in East Timor as engineers, nongovernment organization volunteers and Christian missionaries. Those left behind have decided to stay and continue their work despite the fighting between government forces and the rebels.
The DFA has issued an advisory urging Filipinos not to travel to East Timor now "due to the unstable security situation there."
The journey from Manila to East Timor took the PAF’s Lockheed C130 Hercules cargo plane and its crew about five hours and a half to complete.
This was the second mercy flight to East Timor for the aging four-engine turboprop plane which has established for the military a solid record of reliability and durability, participating in military, civilian, and humanitarian aid operations.
The plane, which is capable of short take-offs and landings on rough runways, can accommodate a maximum load of about 100 passengers.
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