The Department of Foreign Affairs has reiterated calls to the Filipino community in Egypt to refrain from joining protests in that Middle East country.
This came as mass protests gripped Egypt again, this time calling for the ouster Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“There is a standing advisory to refrain from joining demonstrations and avoid public places during these times,” DFA Assistant Secretary Leslie Baja told The Filipino Times.
Baja, who once served as Philippine ambassador to Cairo, said there are around 5,000 Filipinos in Egypt.
Families and friends of these Filipinos in Egypt may not be able to contact them through Facebook Messenger.
Netblocks internet observatory reported that the Egyptian government has blocked the FB Messenger site following the anti el-Sisi protests starting yesterday.
Aside from Messenger, Facebook image CDN servers, BBC News as well as other news sites in Egypt were also restricted amid heightened political tensions. These sites are not generally blocked in Egypt.
There is no sign of a wider nationwide internet blackout though, the Netblocks added.
