President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. has yet to grant United States' request to temporarily house in the Philippines its former Afghan employees, saying that studies are still ongoing on its impact on the country.
"There are many issues involved. That’s why I was a little surprised when I saw some of the news reports that there’s a deal between the US… there’s no deal, we’re still looking exactly how to make it work if we can," Marcos said in a chance interview.
"We will continue to study it. Let’s see if there’s a way we can do it without endangering the security,” he added.
The Philippines has a long history of taking refugees, however, Marcos said the US requests were not for refugees.
“They are an entirely different class of persons, they are Afghan nationals who are being settled by the United States in the United States and for other places. We are only going to be a transition area,” Marcos said.
“Ang sabi ng mga kaibigan nating Amerikano, tingnan nila hindi palalampasin ng isang libong tao doon sa ating kung sakaling man ay matutuloy itong request na ito,” he added.
Aside from security concerns, the President is also concerned with legal and logistical issues that must be considered in this matter.
“But there are even more difficult legal and logistical issues. Because if the plan as it stands runs exactly as it is planned, di maganda, wala tayong problema. But what plan even ran exactly as it is planned? What if something goes wrong?” Marcos said.
Still, the President admitted that he wants to help with the issue.
“We want to help, ito kasi ang mga Afghan na tumulong sa mga Amerikano noong giyera,” Marcos said.
In August 2021, tens of thousands of Afghans fled their country due to conflict, violence, poverty, and food insecurity.
Many of those who had worked with the ousted Western-backed government arrived in the United States seeking resettlement under a special immigrant visa program. But thousands were also left behind, waiting for their visas to be processed.
