EVAC PLANS FOR PINOYS IN ME COMPLETE. Amid mounting anxieties over the looming US-led strike against Iraq, Philippine officials assured yesterday that they have identified almost all of the estimated 60,000 Filipinos in Kuwait who may be directly affected if Iraq stages a counterstrike on the small Arab emirate.
But Department of Labor and Employment official Nicon Fameronag, a member of the presidential Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT), said that of the 60,000 Filipinos in Kuwait, only 6,000 or even less would likely have to be evacuated from their homes and workplaces near the Kuwait-Iraq border. "We are already done with the preparations and just waiting implementation of the contingency plans," Fameronag said, referring to the plans drawn up by the MEPT, led by presidential envoy, retired Gen. Roy Cimatu.
Fameronag said Cimatu is scheduled to return to Kuwait before March 5 to personally supervise the implementation of the contingency measures. Fameronag did not foresee any special difficulty in the possible evacuation of Filipinos since the Philippine embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait have already identified 90 percent of all Filipinos in Kuwait.
Source: Philippine Star, 26 February 2003
SAUDI ARABIA ASSURES RP OF OIL SUPPLY. The Philippines would have ample oil supply if and when the war in Iraq breaks out.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State Madani Al Aqui and Prince Turki conveyed this assurance to Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople in a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit here. Ople has expressed concern over a looming oil shortage because of the tensions in the Middle East and its effect on the economy of developing countries like the Philippines.
But Prince Turki said that Saudi Arabia is not anticipating any shortage in the world’s supply of oil. The kingdom is known for having the largest oil deposits in the world. Saudi officials surmised, however, that prices usually go up in times of crisis as traders inflate prices. They stressed though that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have a responsibility to ensure stability in the oil market.
Meanwhile, Ople and Al Aqui agreed that the Philippines and Saudi Arabia have special relations because of the estimated 800,000 Filipinos working in the kingdom. They also noted that Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia are situated far from the border by vast tracts of desert land. Both the Philippines and Saudi Arabia expressed a common desire for peace to prevail in the Middle East.
Source: Philippine Star, 26 February 2003
SHADDAI, IGLESIA RALLY VS IRAQ WAR. Business, religious and labor groups stormed yesterday the gates of heaven with prayers to prevent war from breaking out in the Middle East and the possible collapse of the countrys economy as a result of such war.
Some 300,000 workers, businessmen, students and leaders of various religious denominations - including Muslim groups, the El Shaddai and the Iglesia ni Cristo - gathered at the Prayer for Peace rally, organized by the Bangon Pilipino Movement, at the Quirino Grandstand for over an hour to ask God to enlighten President Arroyo and guide her in protecting the economy.
As thousands of doves were set loose to dramatize their desire for peace, sectoral leaders joined hands and sang Let There Be Peace on Earth with Mrs. Arroyo, who arrived at the rally at 5:20 p.m. Mrs. Arroyo prayed in Tagalog that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein follow the example set by deceased Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping by disarming his country and surrendering Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to UN arms inspectors, so that doubts about Iraq's suspected intent to use these weapons will be put to rest.
Source: Philippine Star, 24 February 2003
NO SYMPATHY STRIKES ON US TARGETs - MILF. The separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said yesterday they will not stage sympathy attacks on US targets if Washington goes to war in Iraq.
"We will not participate (in sympathy attacks). We have a hands off policy insofar as the Iraq issue is concerned," MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said. Kabalu said fears that Islamic militants, including the MILF, would launch sympathy attacks are "baseless."
Local communist guerrillas earlier vowed to launch attacks against government forces to help out the beleaguered MILF rebels. The New People's Army (NPA), through its spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, warned they would launch sympathy attacks if the United States carried out its threat to strike Iraq.
Notwithstanding their losses in which their stronghold in Pikit fell to government control last week, Kabalu said the MILF wanted "peaceful negotiations" to end the Iraq crisis.
Source: Philippine Star, 19 February 2003
GOV'T DEEPLY DIVIDED OVER IRAQ. Like many of the United States' major partners, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is deeply divided on how to deal with the Iraq issue, particularly on how far to go in supporting the US, its chief military ally.
Members of the civil society bloc-the so-called doves-have called for a "moderation" of the government's largely pro-US stance during Cabinet debates on the issue. The doves are ranged against the "hawks'' who include Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and National Security Adviser Roilo Golez.
Some officials were questioning "what good it would bring" the country to adopt an all-out pro-US position. "What are we getting in return? Can the US, for one, protect our workers in the Middle East once war breaks out?" the doves were said to have asked.
The Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COCIS) is scheduled to meet Monday to assess the results of the Feb. 14 meeting of the UN Security Council in which the US largely seen to have failed to get categorical support from the major powers for military action against Iraq The Department of Foreign Affairs is expected to present an assessment of the meeting.
House legislators on Sunday urged the government to advocate peace instead of supporting the US. They reminded the government that 130 congressmen have supported an anti-war resolution in the House authored by Akbayan Congresswomn Loretta Ann Rosales and others. Rosales said HR 822 expressed the sense of the House that government should not support any unilateral military action against Iraq without a clear mandate from the UN Security Council.
Militant groups on Friday pressed the government to withdraw the President's statement of support for the US campaign against Iraq, warning that a US invasion of Iraq would send some seven million Iraqi people to their deaths.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 17 February 2003
GMA TO SADDAM: DISARM FOR PEACE. Disarm in the name of peace. Mrs. Arroyo exhorted Saddam yesterday to heed the world community's call for peace in the spirit of Valentine's by complying with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 to destroy all Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
The latest appeal was contained in a statement issued by the presidential palace yesterday, eve of Valentine's Day that is celebrated the world over as an occasion to spread love and peace. In a late night interview Wednesday over ZOE TV, Mrs. Arroyo clarified anew that the Philippines is not against Iraq nor the Iraqi leadership, which refused to dismantle weapons of mass destruction, if any. She cited that the Iraqis are peace loving people and they themselves do not want these weapons of mass destruction, and therefore Saddam must heed the sentiments of the majority of his people.
Mrs. Arroyo vehemently debunked criticisms of her being a supposed "puppet of the Americans" for asking Iraq to comply with the US demands to inspect their country and look for and destroy these weapons of mass destruction.
Source: Philippine Star, 14 February 2003
DOUBLE ALERT IN PORTS, TERMINALS. Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza ordered yesterday tighter security at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and other transportation depots nationwide to thwart any attack of terrorists "sympathetic" to Iraq.
Mendoza said security men will monitor round-the-clock the NAIA 1, Centennial Terminal and other airports, ports and terminals; all Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) stations; and bus terminals and other land, water and air transport stations. Mendoza said his office has coordinated with the Philippine National Police following reports that terrorists linked with Osama bin Ladens al-Qaeda network will bomb transportation facilities in Metro Manila after the US attacks Iraq.
Source: Philippine Star, 14 February 2003
GMA WANTS PEACEFUL END TO IRAQ CRISIS. President Arroyo remains committed to a peaceful resolution by the United Nations (UN) to avert the looming war in the Middle East, and is not taking sides in the United States-Iraq conflict, Malacanang said yesterday.
This is why, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said, there was no need for two influential religious congregations to issue a joint manifesto asking the President to stay neutral in the US-Iraq conflict. Reacting to the joint statement issued the other day by El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde and the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) headed by Erano Manalo, Bunye said, "I think they need not issue such a manifesto because President Arroyo, like everyone else, wants peace."
In the statement, the two religious leaders expressed their apprehensions about the repeated statements of the President "in support of the US actions against Iraq." The INC and El Shaddai warned that such presidential statements might endanger not only the lives of an estimated 1.4 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East, but also put the nation’s security and economy at risk should war erupt. Bunye explained that the safety of the OFWs was precisely why Mrs. Arroyo flew unexpectedly to Kuwait two weeks ago to ensure that contingency plans have been laid out by the Philippine government for their immediate evacuation. He said the government’s contingency plans included emergency measures to ensure the uninterrupted remittances of the OFWs’ earnings as well as their communication link to their loved ones back home.
As this developed, Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo’s participation in the Feb. 23 meeting in Malaysia of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) of countries perceived to be anti-US would not place her in an awkward position, given the Philippines’ continuing support for the US-led coalition against terrorism and its plans to launch preemptive military strikes against Iraq. Bunye reiterated that the President is keeping her current stand that the Philippines will await the UN Security Council resolution on the Middle East crisis when the UN inspection team, headed by Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, submits their final report on the disarmament of Iraq on Friday.
Meanwhile, two senators advised Mrs. Arroyo yesterday to distance herself from US President George Bush, who may be on the brink of declaring war against Iraq. On the other hand, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the United Kingdom’s doctrine of crisis management is the model for the Philippine government’s own crisis management in the event of a US-Iraq war.
Source: Philippine Star, 12 February 2003
IRAQI EMBASSY: SHOW EVIDENCE OF ABU LINKS. The Iraqi embassy in Manila on Tuesday condemned the accusation aired by Foreign Secretary Blas Ople that one of its officials had links with the Abu Sayyaf.
In a statement, the embassy said it "denies and condemns strongly" the accusation that Second Secretary Husham Hussein had "made contacts with certain groups out of his diplomatic duties." But Ople said it was not for the Department of Foreign Affairs to produce evidence of Hussein's supposed connection to the Abu Sayyaf and its activities, particularly the bomb attack in Zamboanga City last October that killed three Filipinos and a member of the US Special Forces.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's spokesperson said Malacanang would pursue the investigation into Hussein's supposed links with the Abu Sayyaf. "Allegations of diplomatic involvement in terrorism constitute a grave matter anywhere in the world and should be dealt with vigilance and immediacy," Ignacio Bunye told reporters. "The investigation should leave no stone unturned and the results must be made known to the Filipino people and the international community." Bunye said Ople had disclosed the report of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) against Hussein to protect the public interest. He stressed that Ople's action was "not directed against the Iraqi embassy as a whole but only against one of its functionaries."
In a chance interview at the DFA, Iraqi chargé d'affaires Samir Bolus told reporters that the allegation on Hussein's links with the Abu Sayyaf was "not true." He said he and Hussein "share the same views, and we are working to improve bilateral relations." Asked how he would view a probe of Hussein's alleged involvement with the bandit group, Bolus said: "He has done nothing wrong" to merit an investigation.
Sen. Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, said the government should validate the NICA report in order to avoid another blunder similar to that which led to the closure of the Australian and Canadian embassies here late last year. But Villar noted that the government seemed to be "picking on" Iraq of late, including floating reports on the supposed closure of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad, the reported funding by the Iraqi Embassy of anti-US protests, and the alleged pullout of security from the Iraqi embassy.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 12 February 2003
PRESIDENT ORDERS BAGHDAD EMBASSY CLOSED. Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the closure on Feb. 11 of the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Sunday.
The embassy will be moved to Amman, Jordan, said Golez who has been designated "crisis manager" of the country's contingency plans in a possible United States-Iraq war. Golez said the President also ordered the clearing out of Iraq of all Filipino "non-essential personnel," many of whom are employees of United Nations agencies there. The order to close the embassy and evacuate Filipinos came as the US has come closer to launching an attack on Iraq, which it accuses of harboring weapons of mass destruction. Golez maintained that the government would receive advance notice from the US when the hostilities are about to start.
There are 119 Filipinos in Iraq. There are four remaining staff members of the embassy, including charge d'affaires Grace Escalante. Eight embassy personnel were earlier moved out of Baghdad. Golez said he did not think Iraq would retaliate by closing down its embassy in Manila. Asked in what way the embassy in Baghdad could become a target, Golez said: "It is very near targets so prudence dictates that the place should be evacuated at the proper time." Golez said there are Filipino women who are married to Iraqis. Whether these Filipinas should also be moved out would depend on whether they themselves wished it, he said. As for Filipinos in neighboring Kuwait, the plan was a combination of relocation or staying put as, in the judgment of the Middle East Preparedness Team, this group of Filipinos was not really at risk.
In the same way that security precautions are being heightened in anticipation of a war in the Middle East, the Bureau of Immigration opened on Thursday a sub-port or border station at Brooke's Point in Palawan to serve as an immigration checkpoint and monitoring station. This would in effect close the Palawan back door to the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area) region, said Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo. Brooke's Point, together with its neighboring municipality of Bataraza, has been often used as the back door to Malaysia and Indonesia. Starting Feb. 15, residents and foreigners who used to travel more than 200 kilometers to avail of immigration services in the capital of Puerto Princesa would now need only go to Brooke's Point. Aside from servicing foreigners who come in as investors and tourists in southern Palawan, immigration officials will also gather information and monitor suspicious movements of foreigners.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 10 February 2003
ARROYO CONVINCED OF US CASE VS IRAQ. President Arroyo said yesterday she felt convinced by the disclosure made on Wednesday by US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the United Nations (UN) Security Council linking Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to international terrorist organizations.
Mrs. Arroyo, however, stressed that the development would not prompt the Philippines to send combat troops to help the US in disarming the Iraqi strongman. Mrs. Arroyo made the statement as Speaker Jose de Venecia disclosed the assessment by the National Security Council (NSC) that the United States will strike Iraq between March 1 to 15. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez also confirmed that war might break out within weeks, citing the assessment and advice given to him by his US contacts.
Mrs. Arroyo said the evidence presented by Powell before the UN body "challenges our role as a responsible member of the world community." The President said the information disclosed by Powell on the link between the Iraqi leader and international terrorists was alarming since even countries who remained neutral like Indonesia also end up as victims of terrorism, citing the bomb attack on Bali last year which killed scores of foreigners and injured hundreds.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said the evidence submitted by Powell was clear that Iraq failed to comply with UN Resolution 1441 to disarm itself of alleged weapons of mass destruction. Seen altogether, Ople said the details of Powell’s presentation "amounted to a very convincing one that indeed the Iraqi regime has failed to comply" with the demands of the UN resolution. Ople, however, did not elaborate on the Philippine position on the US-Iraq conflict. He said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will present its recommendation to the NSC, which will convene on Feb. 14 to take up the issue.
Although Mrs. Arroyo indicated that no combat troops would be sent to Iraq, she said this does not preclude the possibility that the NSC will later consider sending troops to beef up a UN peacekeeping force and medical contingent for humanitarian missions.
Local communists took up the cudgels for Iraq against the US and its allies by warning anew of tactical offensives against the government. In a statement, communist guerrilla spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said they will launch attacks "to defend the Iraqi people."
Source: Philippine Star, 7 February 2003
OFWS PREFER WAR THREAT TO P80/DAY JOBS. They would rather face the threat of war than go home to an 80-peso-per-day job. At least that's what the families of Filipino workers in the Middle East believe.
Many of those who came to hear President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Philippine Trade and Training Center in Pasay City on Tuesday are convinced that their loved ones were better off staying in the troubled region. Fhahima Akmad, 46, who has at least nine relatives working as domestic helpers in Kuwait, said they were fine and preferred to stay in the emirate, which borders Iraq. The President met with workers' families and friends immediately after arriving, at about 7:45 a.m., from her state visit to Kuwait.
"Once you see the accommodations for your loved ones there, you will feel more secure about their safety and security," the President said to the crowd of about 700. Ms Macapagal said "luxurious" and "resort-like" facilities await workers in Kuwait who will be relocated. She said the relocation center in Nuwaizib, 100 kilometers south of the Kuwaiti capital and near the Saudi border, was complete with amenities, safe stored water and sufficient sanitation facilities. Ms Macapagal said the Filipino community in Kuwait was quite relaxed under the circumstances.
As for workers outside Kuwait, the President expressed satisfaction over the presentation of the Filipino ambassadors and chargés d'affaires of their respective contingency plans. "We are ready for any eventuality," she added.
The President said the plans will be backed by the government's available resources.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 5 February 2003
PRESIDENT OFF TO KUWAIT AMID WAR ANXIETY. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo left for Kuwait Sunday morning as members of her advance party reported a sense of creeping anxiety among overseas Filipinos in Kuwait as war between the United States and Kuwait's neighbor Iraq loomed closer.
"So far, on the surface, it looks calm," presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said in a teleconference with Malacanang reporters. But "there is the possibility that a state of emergency will be declared in Kuwait in the next few days."
The President is on a whirlwind visit to Kuwait to check on evacuation plans for workers who could be at risk if war breaks out. "This is unprecedented, for a President to go in the middle of a crisis, so when I was invited to come along, I agreed. I wanted to be part of history," said Congressman Apolinario Lozada Jr., part of the President's small entourage. The President will meet with Emir Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah in formal talks early Monday, before presiding over a "regional command conference" with Philippine ambassadors and labor attaches to the Middle East. She will then meet the Emir again for a late lunch. She was expected to meet some 700 representatives of the Filipino community late Sunday night.
The President is expected to be back in Manila Tuesday, in time for a weekly Cabinet meeting. Lozada said the main purpose of the hasty trip was to reassure the workers in the area. In a separate interview, Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo said the President decided to go to Kuwait herself because "the President's role is to meet with our people." In another interview, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the President will "see for herself our preparedness plan ... as a good mother of her family."
The President's meeting with ambassadors and labor attaches will discuss contingency measures for the 1.4 million overseas workers in the troubled region. "All the ambassadors will gather in Kuwait on my instructions for a regional command conference on preparedness measures," Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said.
Ople said Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas would assist the President in the conference. He ruled out a side trip to Saudi Arabia because the royal family is currently not in the capital city of Riyadh. Initial plans that called for the President to visit other Middle East countries fell through because of the apparent lack of time. The ambassadors and charges d'affaires who will brief the President are the country's envoys to Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 3 February 2003
SIN TELLS MACAPAGAL: BACK POPE, NOT BUSH. Reminding her of Pope John Paul II's declaration that war "is always a defeat for humanity," Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin is urging President Macapagal-Arroyo not to support a US war on Iraq.
"This is now a good opportunity for you to follow the Holy Father rather than be aligned with the superpowers of the world," Sin said in a pastoral letter issued on the day US President George W. Bush delivered his State of the Union address Wednesday. In his pastoral letter, Sin also appealed to Ms Macapagal to remain true to her promise to be "a faithful daughter of the Church" by not supporting "the unjust war efforts being proposed by the United States of America."
In the Senate, four senators -- Joker Arroyo, Francis Pangilinan, Ralph Recto and Noli de Castro -- filed a resolution calling on the Macapagal administration to act with prudence on the US plan to wage a war on Iraq. At a press conference, Arroyo, Pangilinan and Recto reminded Ms Macapagal of the constitutional provision, which renounces war as an instrument of national policy. They said any war on Iraq must have the approval of the UN Security Council.
Sen. Manny Villar, chair of the committee on foreign relations, is expected to immediately endorse the resolution to the Senate floor for adoption. The President's call for "compliance" sounded more urgent compared with her statement Wednesday in which she asked Iraq to give the UN resolutions the "most urgent and serious consideration."
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 31 January 2003
RP BISHOPS OPPOSE US WAR IN IRAQ. Speaking as one church, the country's influential Catholic bishops on Tuesday signaled their opposition to a war in Iraq.
Meeting at the Pope Pius X Center in Manila, 88 Catholic bishops from across the country expressed "grave concern" over the "threat of war" and issued a strong appeal for peace. They directed the appeal to US President George W. Bush and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as well as to Philippine authorities. The bishops also asked President Macapagal-Arroyo not to support any unilateral US military offensive -- in the same way the leaders of France, Germany and Russia have categorically asked the United States to wait for an official UN finding.
In a press briefing, CBCP president Archbishop Orlando Quevedo said the bishops want the President to take an unequivocal stand. "I would like that to happen, for her to take the side of the United Nations," he said.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 29 January 2004
OIL COMPANIES TOLD TO INCREASE STOCKPILE. Domestic oil companies have been asked to maintain a minimum inventory of oil supplies of up to 30 days to avert a shortage in case of a United States war with Iraq.
"The escalating tension between the United States and Iraq underscores the need for the Philippines to adopt and implement prudent initiatives to ensure the continuous, adequate and stable supply of petroleum products," said Energy Secretary Vincent Perez Jr. after the energy department released yesterday the circular. The government has been monitoring the possible impact of a war in the Middle East because of the Philippines' dependence on oil, especially for the transport sector, said Perez.
The order requires all oil companies and bulk suppliers, except refiners, operating in the country to maintain a "minimum inventory" of 15 to 30 days supply of petroleum products at any time. Refiners Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum and Caltex Phil. are required to maintain stocks of liquid fuels for at least 30 days. Other oil firms and bulk suppliers are required to keep stocks good for at least 14 days.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 22 January 2003
RP OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO US IN IRAQI WAR, BUT NO TROOPS. The Philippine government has offered assistance to the United States in its campaign against Iraq, a senior defense official said yesterday.
The offer was made during a 30-minute meeting at Malacanang yesterday between President Arroyo and visiting US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and Internal Security John Bolton. Also present during the meeting were Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes.
No combatants can be sent as it would require congressional approval and run counter to the Philippines’ call for peace in the region. The official said the offer was made as part of the Philippines’ commitment to the global fight against terrorism. The assistance, if accepted by the US, would mean that Philippine peacekeeping troops would be deployed, the official said. Some engineers, doctors, and possibly veterinarians would also be sent to Iraq.
It was not yet clear, the official said, whether the government would wait for the United Nations’ approval of the US campaign before sending peacekeepers and other humanitarian personnel. The Iraq campaign could also be the test run of the RP-US Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) signed last year. The MLSA allows both sides to draw supplies from each other on credit during a pre-approved activity under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. The payments are in kind.
Source: Philippine Star, 10 January 2003