President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said the government has yet to arrive at a decision on whether or not the Philippines would accept the entry of Afghan refugees as requested by the United States government.
“We’ll look at it very, very well before making a decision,” Mr. Marcos told the reporters in an interview during the sidelines of the ceremonial signing of the memorandum of agreement on the Kadiwa ng Pangulo in San Fernando City in Pampanga.
“We’re trying to see what issues are arising. In doing so, we are trying to find ways to remedy those issues that we feel are something that we have to deal with. We have made some progress, there’s still some major obstacles to us being able to do it,” the President added.
The President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, earlier questioned what she described as the government’s” lack of transparency” in handling the request.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the proposal to assist the refugees was made in October 2022.
According to DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo, US President Joe Biden raised the request again in May when Mr. Marcos visited Washington.