MANILA -- Sen. Imee Marcos on Friday grilled officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) over its alleged lack of transparency in handling the request of the US to temporarily house in the Philippines their former Afghan employees.

• Philippines to mull plan to temporarily host Afghans

During the Senate committee on Foreign relations hearing, Marcos asked DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo as to why there seems to be confidentiality regarding the request made as early as October last year.

"Until this moment, the terms of the proposal request of the US is still shrouded in mystery as far as the public as well as the Senate is concerned," said Marcos, who initiated the probe.

According to Manalo, the DFA convened an inter-agency meeting in Oct. 2022 to discuss the "concept note" of the US, but only invited the Department of National Defense (DND), Department of Justice (DOJ), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

But after a series of consultations over the next several months, more agencies were informed about the US request, until it was "elevated to a higher level" in April this year.

"When we reached the point in April [that] we had enough of these observations, we decided it's time now to raise it to the higher level," Manalo explained.

According to Manalo, even US President Joe Biden directly raised the request to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. during his official visit to the United States last May.

"In fact Pres. Biden also briefly raised the issue with Pres. Marcos during the visit last May," Manalo said.

NOT REFUGEES

Marcos also sought clarity on the status of the Afghan nationals that would stay in the Philippines in case the US request is granted.

"Technically they're not refugees because basically they're not displaced... My understanding is their visas for the US shall be processed within this country because of administrative difficulties, because of their bureaucracy [in the US]. But they are not refugees as of this time. They may become refugees if their visas are denied and they're not repatriated," DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez confirmed Teodoro's assessment and said that the Afghans are not refugees as initially reported.

• Senators raise more questions on PH-US 'deal' to house Afghan refugees

"These are not refugees, these are employees of the US government and they're asking us if we can help them," Romualdez said.

But Marcos, sister of the President, questioned why the "executive branch" is justifying the hosting of the Afghan nationals under a law only applicable to refugees.

"If that is the status of these individuals, what is the basis therefore of the executive branch of government for admitting them into the Philippines under Sec. 47 of Commonwealth Act on the power of the President to admit aliens for humanitarian reasons, expressly referring only to refugees?" Marcos asked.

Manalo did not directly answer Marcos' question.

"The notion as we understood it from the concept note of the US is there is no intention of leaving them in the Philippines, they're only going to use the Philippines as a temporary site for processing for their eventual trip to the US, provided they pass all the vetting... None of them will be left behind nor have the option of remaining in the Philippines to seek refugee status," he said.

SECURITY CONCERNS

Romualdez said the US is eyeing to send the Afghan nationals by batches of 1,000 to 1,500, with the Philippines dictating the terms of their stay.

"They would like to see if they can bring in over a thousand per batch... It's completely up to us how we want to proceed with this request. We can have it a thousand each time and they will be repatriated to the US once they receive their special immigrant visas (SIV)," Romualdez said.

Manalo said "rigorous" security measures will be conducted before the Afghans are sent to the Philippines.

"We understand from the US that all Afghans will be traveling with valid passports and will have already undergone rigorous security vetting and background checks to verify that they have indeed previously worked with the US government," Manalo said.

It is also up to the Philippines to impose "mobility restrictions and internal movement" to the Afghan nationals.

Manalo added that the US government will shoulder all expenses related to their request.

'NOTHING WRONG'

For Sen. Francis Tolentino, there is nothing wrong in hosting Afghan nationals in the Philippines, citing precedents.

"I don't see anything wrong here... kung talagang na-vet sila... Yung mga OFWs natin nasa iba't ibang bansa tinatanggap naman," he said.

Tolentino recalled that the Philippines has a "proud history" of extending hospitality to refugees and displaced persons such as Jews, Vietnamese, and Syrians.

Tolentino said the security concerns may have been rooted in "stereotyping" of Afghans.

"Ang kinatatakutan kasi ng marami, nagka-stereotyping na, 'Eh baka suicide bombers ito.' Nagkaroon lang ng konting hype, stereotyping, bordering discrimination, siguro naman mabubuting tao yung iba," Tolentino said.

He also called out the the DFA on how it handled the US request.

"Yung mali lang siguro dito yung proseso, shrouded in non-transparency manner, not revealed to the country, not fully explained. Siguro DFA ang dapat managot diyan. Yung mga Afghans, wala silang kasalanan," he said.

But Marcos insisted that "[they] are not refugees."

"And there is no doubt the the Philippines upholds and takes pride in our history of giving refuge to international refugees," Marcos said.

Teodoro said the government is yet to select a site for housing the Afghan nations, but said that restricting their movement would be ideal.

"In so far as the DND is concerned, the least amount of area they can travel from and to would be naturally, physically better for us. We have not discussed in thorough detail a definite site where this will be, and we definitely have to consult with the officials involved in the areas," he said.

Both Manalo and Romualdez also reiterated that the hosting is temporary as committed by the US.

Malacañang said the request is still being evaluated.

• US proposal for PH to host Afghans still 'under evaluation' — Palace

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