Videos uploaded on a social networking site showing the situation of stranded Filipinos inside the Philippine Embassy have continued to gather negative reactions from the Filipinos all over the world.
“Where are the hearts of the embassy officials?” a Filipino said.
The videos showed overseas stranded Filipinos who have been camping out inside Philippine Embassy grounds for three straight days, continued to spread like wildfire.
“They are treating our kababayans (fellow Filipinos) like dogs,” a Filipino user commented.
An eyewitness confirmed the authenticity of the videos.
Carlos Alpajora Jr., 30, one of the stranded Filipino currently inside the Philippine Embassy grounds, uploaded the latest video, named, “A sickly child was promised treatment at the hospital but was not.”
“It all started when the Philippine Embassy bargained with us,” Alpajora told Arab News.
The Embassy told the stranded countrymen to allow them to take their children to a hospital.
“We accepted their offer since it is for the safety of the children,” Alpajora told Arab News.
According to several eyewitnesses, the problem occurred when embassy officials brought the woman with her sick child to the Bahay Kalinga Foundation, instead to the hospital. The mother refused and made her way back to the embassy premises. Earlier this week, the Philippines Embassy promised to provide assistance for the distressed Filipinos, of which includes the transferring of the women and children to a rest house, which was eventually rejected.
“We offered them all the appropriate help but they refused to cooperate,” Ambassador Ezzedin Tago told Arab News.
According to Tago, he has not seen the videos yet but has already heard of the incident.
“Our intention is to help the women and their children because we are concerned about their well-being,” Tago said.
According to the Embassy, aside from health care, they also provided enough food, water and diapers for the stranded Filipinos and their children. “It is unfair to accuse us of not providing their needs because we are doing our best to fulfill our promise even though we have other matters to attend to,” Tago said.
“The affected Filipinos should allow us to help them and try to cooperate with us so that we can solve this problem together,” Tago added.