MANILA: The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has not yet issued deployment ban for the Eurasian country despite the failed military-led coup attempt in Turkey last week.
POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac was quoted as saying by Manila Bulletin that his office is still awaiting the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) before issuing a deployment ban for Turkey.
“We are coordinating with DFA on this matter,” Cacdac reportedly said.
Under the government’s security alert level protocol, POEA could only start barring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from heading to specified country if the DFA issues a crisis alert level 2 or 3, the report said.
According to news reports, a coup attempt by a rouge faction of the Turkish military last Friday was foiled by the Turkish government.
The incident, however, led to several casualties.
DFA had earlier said the political situation in Turkey has started to normalize and that none of the estimated 3,500 Filipinos working there country was among those reported killed or wounded.
Meantime, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Administrator Rebecca Calzado reportedly urged OFWs in Turkey to temporarily avoid venturing out to public places.
