Rodriguez backs admin plan for Afghan refugees

By Maricel V. Cruz

CAGAYAN de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Tuesday expressed support for the reported government plan to accept Afghan refugees.

“We are a compassionate nation. We are a caring people who will always receive refugees for humanitarian reasons. We can limit the number, but let us host Afghans fleeing the war in their country and their cruel Taliban leaders,” Rodriguez said.

He said there are still some refugee centers in the country that could process and temporarily shelter displaced Afghans. He said the plan if approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., may not be new.

Rodriguez recalled that in September 2021, then Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. revealed that the Philippines had taken in Afghan refugee women and children following the fall of Afghanistan to Taliban.

“We stay steady where others waver: tonight, we welcome Afghan nations, including women and kids seeking refuge. Our doors are open to those fleeing conflict, persecution, sexual abuse, and death,” Locsin was reported as saying.

portunities, given that we are still a growing economy, we see that the cost of debt has risen, making the need to explore vehicles to attract equity financing such as MIC [Maharlika Investment Corp./MIF urgent,” the group said in a joint statement.

“... The MIC/MIF is an investment for the future that we need to start building