• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The family of Loreta Villarin Alacre, the Negrense caregiver killed during the Hamas attacks in Israel, has received assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office (DSWD) in Western Visayas (Region 6).
DSWD-6 Assistant Regional Director Arwin Razo said already provided were
P40,000 in cash and food assistance for the nephews of Alacre, whose education she had been financing, and her sibling, who is a solo parent.
Livelihood assistance is also being planned for her immediate family, he added.
Alacre, 49, who had worked in Israel for about 15 years, was then attending the Supernova Music Festival outside the Re’im Kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.
The provincial government of Negros Occidental and Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante has assured help for the family of Alacre and families of Negrense OFWs needing assistance in the war-torn Israel.
Records of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration-6 showed there are 231 OFWs from Negros Occidental working in Israel, but it has not been determined yet how many of them are living in Gaza.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has ordered the mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Gaza after raising the alert level to 4.
“The DFA wishes to inform the public that due to the current situation in Gaza, we have placed Gaza under Alert Level 4 (Mandatory Repatriation),” the agency said in a statement on Sunday.
The DFA said that of the 131 Filipinos in Gaza, at least 78 are situated near the Rafah border crossing near Egypt while the rest are in the northern part, which is expected to be the main site of hostilities. | GB
