RP CONTINGENT PULLED OUT OF IRAQ IF SITUATION WORSENS. Philippine troops stationed in Iraq would be pulled out swiftly if the security situation threatened their safety, President Arroyo said yesterday.
"We shall closely monitor developments directly from the ground and we will ensure that our nationals will be kept out of harm’s way and will be immediately evacuated if called for by the shifting situation," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement released by Malacanang yesterday.
The Philippines has deployed 178 soldiers, police and humanitarian workers to Iraq and pledged to the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council last month to boost their number to 500 early next year. But Mrs. Arroyo, the most vocal Southeast Asian ally of US President George W. Bush in his war on terror, said: "We have to balance our international commitments against the safety of our own peacekeepers and humanitarian workers."
Mrs. Arroyo’s statement yesterday was a departure from her official stand last month when she said the government would not recall its peacekeeping and humanitarian contingent in Iraq despite the series of suicide bombing attacks in Baghdad by suspected loyal supporters of Saddam who attacked the International Red Cross in Baghdad. So far, though, none of the Filipino peacekeepers in Iraq has been killed or injured in these attacks against coalition Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said there has not been any order from Malacanang for the contingent to pull out. He stressed none had been hurt in the escalating guerrilla campaign that has targeted US and other coalition forces as well as Iraqis working for the occupation forces.
Source: Philippine Star, 19 November 2003
RP WILL STILL SEND TROOPS TO IRAQ DESPITE BOMBING. The government said yesterday it would continue sending peacekeeping troops to support US-led coalition forces in Iraq despite a suicide bomb attack that left 27 Italians and Iraqis dead.
The Philippine armed forces "is committed to continue its support to the coalition operations in Iraq," military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero told reporters. A total of 178 Filipino soldiers, policemen and social and health workers are serving in areas in southern Iraq administered by Polish forces, and the government had earlier said it would increase the size of the contingent to 500 by early next year. Lucero said a fresh batch of Filipino troops were to replace those currently in Iraq in the next three months and that Wednesday’s bombings in Nasiriya would not affect the schedule. He said there has so far been no Filipino soldier or aid worker injured or killed in a spate of bombings that have hit Iraq in recent months. Reports from the field however indicate that southern Iraq remained "very volatile."
Source: Philippine Star, 14 November 2003
RP TO KEEP PEACE CONTINGENT IN IRAQ. The Philippine peacekeeping and humanitarian contingent in Iraq will remain there despite deadly attacks that killed 42 people and wounded over 200 in Baghdad early this week, President Arroyo said yesterday.
The President, nevertheless, said she ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) "to see to it that our nationals are out of harm’s way in their places of residence and work. We do not wish to place Filipino lives at unnecessary risk."
Nearly 200 Filipino soldiers, policemen, doctors, nurses and social workers were sent to Iraq this year as part of a humanitarian mission to rehabilitate Iraq after the United States-led invasion that was supported by Manila. Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the President strongly condemned the attacks by suspected loyalists of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein targeting US servicemen and their allies who supported the US-led war in Iraq.
The President reiterated the Philippines’ firm commitment to the postwar reconstruction in Iraq during her talks with US President George W. Bush during Bush’s brief state visit on Oct. 18.
Source: Philippine Star, 29 October 2003
RP SENDING COPS, SOLDIERS TO IRAQ. The Philippines is now planning to send more soldiers and policemen for a peacekeeping mission in Iraq, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said yesterday.
Ople said the government is planning to send 500 soldiers and policemen, along with 100 medical workers. The earlier plan was to deploy only 75 soldiers and policemen with 100 medical workers, who were due to arrive in Baghdad on June 30. In a statement, Ople said the deployment might be delayed, pointing out the "changing situation in Iraq" prompted the government to reassess the composition of the Philippine contingent. No date was given for the new deployment.
Other officials, however, disclosed it was the US that demanded the Philippines should change the composition of its contingent. The sources said the US Embassy conveyed to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) the immediate need of the US Central Command to restore peace and order in post-war Iraq. The Central Command’s decision to ask for soldiers, rather than civilian medical workers, was reached during a meeting in Poland, the sources said.
It was agreed that the Filipino contingent will be placed under the command of Poland, which will act as the international coordinator of the mission. The Filipinos will be joined by other contingents from Ukraine, Bulgaria, Latvia and other countries of the "coalition of the willing" that supported the US-led war on Iraq.
"The problem is how we are going to explain this to Congress since there is no budget for a big military contingent," one of the officials disclosed. The sources said technically, President Arroyo approved the change in composition of the contingent, but the details were not relayed to her.
Source: Philippine Star, 11 June 2003
GMA: RP SHOULD SEND 500 PEACEKEEPERS TO IRAQ. President Arroyo insisted Monday that the Philippines should send at least 500 Filipino policemen and soldiers, along with truck drivers and security guards, to help in the post-war reconstruction of Iraq.
The President’s declaration is contrary to what was recommended by a task force she earlier created to determine the Philippine participation in Iraq’s reconstruction. The recommendation was to scale down the original 500-strong humanitarian and peacekeeping contingent to Iraq to just 175 because of budgetary constraints. The Iraqis already have medical doctors and nurses — earlier thought to be needed there, just after the war ended — and "what they need is to build their hospitals," the President said. Mrs. Arroyo, however, clarified that there is yet no final decision on the size and composition of the contingent.
The downsizing of the Philippine contingent to Iraq was first recommended by Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, co-chairmen of the public sector task force on the Philippine humanitarian mission to Iraq. Ople and Reyes are with the President during her ongoing US state visit, when the post-war reconstruction of Iraq was among the topics she discussed in a meeting with Bush.
Source: Philippine Star, 21 May 2003
GMA AIDE OFF TO WASHINGTON TO TACKLE IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION. Former foreign affairs secretary Roberto Romulo left for Washington DC yesterday to discuss with US officials the possibility of generating some 100,000 new jobs for Filipinos from the ongoing reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
Romulo, who heads the government-private sector presidential task force President Arroyo created last week, is expected to meet with retired general Jay Garner, chairman of the US Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (OHRA), which is in charge of all current humanitarian aid to war-torn Iraq. Romulo explained that his task force is concerned primarily with generating new jobs for Filipinos in Iraq and has little to do with the other task force Mrs. Arroyo created to coordinate the deployment of peacekeepers there. Romulo said the government should "turn quickly" to get jobs and business opportunities for Filipino workers and businessmen, especially since China has also supposedly expressed interest in sending workers to Iraq.
The Palace announced in a statement that Romulo will return on April 28 to report to the President before proceeding to Kuwait to talk with "on-the-ground reconstruction teams so Philippine companies and workers can be immediately tapped for the reconstruction effort." Romulo’s task force was created through Executive Order 194, which Mrs. Arroyo signed on April 14 and funded with a "seed fund" of P10 million to facilitate government and private sector efforts to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Aside from the Romulo task force, the President also created another task force, chaired by Ople to oversee the deployment of some 500 peacekeepers that the country has committed to deploy in Iraq.
Source: Philippine Star, 21 April 2003
POST OF RP ENVOY TO IRAQ A ‘JUICY’ JOB. Key figures in the Arroyo administration are said to be lobbying to be named the next ambassador to the oil-rich country now under US military occupation.
Diplomatic sources said being chief of the Philippine mission in post-war Iraq would be a "juicy" post because there would be "a lot of opportunities" to corner contracts for construction, manpower, materials, systems processes and technology.
Last week, President Arroyo announced the appointment of Jose Ibazeta, a consultant of Andres Soriano Corp., as the new ambassador to Iraq. But Malacanang said Ibazeta will go to Iraq, "not as a diplomat but as head of a task force." Sources said if Malacanang formally names Ibazeta ambassador to Iraq, he would have "opportunities" to corner contracts in Iraq’s reconstruction.
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has been lobbying for Ambassador to Kuwait Bayani Mangibin, a fellow Pangasinense, to be named envoy to Iraq on a concurrent capacity. Sources said Malacanang announced Ibazeta’s appointment last week to "preempt" De Venecia’s lobbying for Mangibin to be the country’s chief of mission in Iraq.
Source: Philippine Star, 21 April 2003
‘NO NEED TO SEND PINOY PEACEKEEPERS TO IRAQ’. Filipino policemen are needed in the streets of Metro Manila and soldiers needed more in Mindanao than in Baghdad, Basra and Tikrit, two senators said yesterday.
Sen. Manuel Villar said US and British troops can keep the peace in Iraq’s chaotic cities as people in Metro Manila need policemen to protect them from cellphone snatchers and other criminals. More policemen must also direct traffic in Metro Manila and other urban centers, he added. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Filipino soldiers can be deployed in Sulu, Basilan, Davao City and other parts of Mindanao to fight rebels instead of sending them to Iraq as peacekeepers. Troops and policemen are needed in Davao City to foil terrorist bombings like those at the Sasa Wharf and the Davao International Airport, which killed many people, he added.
However, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday Filipino peacekeepers "will play a key role" in restoring order and normalcy in the cities of war-torn Iraq. Top Philippine National Police officials were called to Malacanang yesterday for a seminar on handling press relations on the scheduled departure next week of 500 policemen for the humanitarian mission to Iraq. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said soldiers joining the contingent will undergo training on peacekeeping. The US will provide the mission’s air transportation, housing, subsistence and other needs, Reyes said. Armed Forces vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said they would most likely send a brigadier general to lead the troops.
Source: Philippine Star, 16 April 2003
100,000 JOBS IN IRAQ SEEN FOR OFWS'. Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople believes Filipinos will be given 100,000 jobs in the reconstruction of Iraq as reward for the Philippine government's support for the US-led war in the oil-rich country.
"I expect Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia also to be actively looking for opportunities in Iraq," Ople said. "We will work in tandem if that is their desire. They are suddenly competitors for opportunities even when some of them had opposed the war in Iraq." Ople said defense department officials are discussing with the US military the "specific participation" of the Philippines in Iraq's post-war reconstruction. He said officials of the Philippine embassy are also meeting with representatives of major international contractors in Washington to determine the appropriate role for Philippine companies and Filipino workers.
Before the first Gulf War in 1991, 400,000 Filipinos had been working in various capacities in Iraq, Ople added. Thousands of Filipino workers are expected to be deployed to Iraq soon. Acting Labor and Employment Secretary Manuel Imson said the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will set up a "special hiring desk" to speed up the processing of employment contracts for Iraq bound Filipinos.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday the Philippines expects the US to give priority to Filipinos who want to take part in the reconstruction and the handing out of humanitarian assistance to Iraq. In an interview, Imson said the "special hiring desk" will serve as a one-stop shop where departing Filipino workers could get all the required documents for the processing of their employment contracts. Filipino workers would be deployed in areas that are already under the control of coalition troops so their lives would not be endangered, he added.
Source: Philippine Star, 14 April 2003
MACAPAGAL PAYS HEAVY PRICE FOR STAND ON IRAQ WAR. Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday said she paid a heavy political price for supporting the United States-led war against Iraq.
President Macapagal admitted that her poll ratings plunged to negative 14 because of her decision to have the country become part of the so-called "coalition of the willing." Ms Macapagal, however, indicated that the drop in the ratings is only temporary and that an improvement is expected because of the victorious turnout of the conflict.
In his regular media briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said that Ms Macapagal had been "alerted'' of the results of a Social Weather Stations survey. Bunye explained that the survey conducted from March 10 to 25 "coincided with pre-war jitters'' as the general sentiment among the Filipinos then was one of opposition to the war.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 11 April 2003
MACAPAGAL SAYS PHILIPPINES SET FOR POSTWAR ROLE IN IRAQ. As the United States and the United Nations squabble over the reconstruction of Iraq, the Philippines plans to send a 500-member humanitarian task force to the war-ravaged country.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Tuesday that the Department of National Defense would play a lead role in this humanitarian effort. On the President's instructions, Foreign Secretary Blas Ople has told Filipino diplomats to coordinate with their counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the regional group's role in humanitarian efforts in Iraq.
To lay the ground for Philippine participation in the reconstruction, the Philippine ambassador to Kuwait touched base with the designated American administrator of Iraq. Ambassador Bayani Mangibin met with retired US General Jay Garner, head of the Pentagon's Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, at the US ambassador's residence in Kuwait on April 4.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 9 April 2003
2 IRAQI DIPLOMATS LEAVE RP AFTER ESPIONAGE CHARGES. Two Iraqi diplomats have left the country after being expelled on suspicion of spying, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said Thursday.
The two, First Secretary Abdul Karim Shwaikh and commercial attache Karim Nassir Hamid, quietly flew out of Manila at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday on Egypt Air. Ople on Monday had ordered the Iraqis to leave the Philippines within 72 hours for alleged espionage. He said they had been caught taking pictures of the American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio on the eve of a memorial service there in November 2002. The US Embassy canceled the event at the last minute, citing a terrorist threat.
Some members of Congress, however, had asked Ople to produce the evidence against the two diplomats to dispel speculation that the government was penalizing innocent Iraqis just to please Washington, which had asked some countries to expel Iraqi diplomats in their midst. Ople told a press conference Thursday the expulsion of Shwaikh and Hamid did not signal a diplomatic break with Iraq.
It was unclear how the Iraqis would make their way to Baghdad, which had been under heavy bombardment and surrounded by American and British forces. Last week, authorities arrested 10 Iraqis and one Saudi national in Luzon and Mindanao, alleging they were part of an "established network" with ties to the first expelled Iraqi diplomat, Husain.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 28 March 2003
PRESIDENT RULES OUT CUTTING DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH IRAQ. Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ruled out cutting diplomatic ties with Iraq as requested by the United States, but has ordered an Iraqi diplomat in the country investigated for allegedly engaging in espionage.
The President said the country was "not cutting diplomatic ties per se" with Iraq, but would deal with Iraqi diplomats on an "individual by individual" basis. "So there is really just (one other) diplomat aside from the one that we already (asked to leave)," Ms Macapagal-Arroyo said, referring to Husham Hussain, Iraqi Embassy second secretary.
Hussain was expelled middle of last month for allegedly conspiring with the Abu Sayyaf, a kidnap gang blacklisted by the US as a "terrorist organization" with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Intelligence officers had traced mobile phone calls from the Abu Sayyaf to Hussain immediately after a bombing in Zamboanga City in October which killed an American soldier and three Filipinos. The Iraqi Embassy had denied the charges against Hussain.
Earlier, local officials said the President was waiting for a recommendation from Ople before deciding on Washington's request. "We have formulated the Department of Foreign Affairs position," Foreign Affairs undersecretary Lauro Baja told reporters, "but the President's decision will be known tomorrow (Monday)."
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 24 March 2003
11 IRAQIS IN RP ARRESTED IN GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN. Government authorities have launched a crackdown on Iraqi nationals in what appears to be a pre-emptive strike against possible "terrorist attacks" that might be carried out by supporters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
At least 11 Iraqi nationals, some of which have links with expelled Iraqi Second Secretary Husham Hussain, were rounded up by intelligence operatives of the Philippine National Police and National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency in various raids in Metro Manila starting last Monday. An intelligence source revealed that the week-long police operation against suspected Iraqi terrorists was cleared by Malacanang as a show of the Philippine government's unflinching support for the United States-led war against Iraq.
It was learned that the 11 Iraqi nationals are now undergoing "tactical interrogation'' at the PNP-Intelligence Group headquarters in Camp Crame. It remains to be seen what specific charges will be filed against the Iraqis. Records show that there are only 35 Iraqi nationals residing in the Philippines. Around 20 are on "refugee status'' after fleeing Iraq out of fear of Saddam Hussein.
Most of the arrests were made in Midland Plaza Hotel where the recruitment agencies owned by the Iraqi nationals hold office. Another intelligence source said the main targets of the police operation are Iraqi nationals who have direct linkages with diplomat Husham Hussain, who was deported last month after a detailed Nica report exposed his links with some members of the Abu Sayyaf who were allegedly responsible for the series of bombings in Zamboanga City in October 2002.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 21 March 2003
MACAPAGAL JUSTIFIES DECISION TO JOIN ANTI-IRAQ COALITION. Fears that Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" would end up with the Abu Sayyaf or the Muslim separatist rebels weighed heavily on the government decision to join the United States-led "coalition of the willing."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bared this Thursday, just hours after the US launched its war to disarm Saddam Hussein of its weapons of mass destruction. Macapagal placed the country firmly behind the attack against Iraq shortly after US President George Bush announced the opening of hostilities in a televised address. Macapagal said her decision to join the US-led coalition was "very difficult" but necessary.
Macapagal declared that the Philippines was "part of a willing coalition giving political and moral support to actions to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction," she said at graduation ceremonies at the Philippine Military Academy, an elite academic institution that produces many of the country's military officers.
Defense and military officials have become increasingly wary of the probable launching of "collateral" or "sympathy" terror attacks on the country with its support of the attack on Iraq. Earlier, Palace officials hedged and said the country would only provide "political and moral" support to the United States.
She said, however, that Manila would not be sending combat troops to help the coalition, but was "committed to extend peacekeeping after the conflict." Macapagal said she was open to sending a contingent to a United Nations-led humanitarian mission in a post-war Iraq.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 21 March 2003
GOVERNMENT STOPS OFW DEPLOYMENT TO MIDDLE EAST. The Government on Thursday suspended the deployment of Filipino workers in four Middle East countries "immediately and until further notice."
Workers bound for Kuwait, Israel and Saudi Arabia -- the latter hosts the biggest number of Filipino workers in the region -- would have to wait until the conflict ends before being allowed to leave, the Department of Labor and Employment said Thursday. The fourth country was Iraq but the DOLE has banned deployment in that country since early last year. All Filipinos in Baghdad had been relocated as of January.
While OFWs have been barred from leaving, "droves" of them have been arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport since US President George W. Bush gave his 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. Ferdinand Sampol, Bureau of Immigration chief at the Naia, said the agency has seen a sharp rise in OFW arrivals over the last couple of days.
Department Order 42-03 mandating the OFW deployment ban also covers Middle East workers who are here on vacation and were scheduled to return to their jobs, said Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson. Some 150 OFWs slated to leave Thursday were already at the departure gate of their Philippine Airlines flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when they were barred from boarding by airline representatives who informed them they could no longer leave.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 21 March 2003
PNP BEEFS UP SECURITY AT EMBASSIES. Police have beefed up security at the US embassy, several other missions and government installations following an ultimatum yesterday from US President George W. Bush for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to leave Baghdad in 48 hours or face a US-led war.
Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol, operations chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that more police and military intelligence agents have been deployed across the country to thwart possible attacks by rebel groups or terrorists sympathetic to Iraq. Security has also been tightened at Manilas South and North Harbors, two light railway systems, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, key government offices as well as public transport terminals and vital installations across the country, Querol said.
PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., however, stressed that they found no specific threats "but we have to assume that there is." Officials have warned of possible "sympathy attacks" by Islamic militants against vital installations and US interests in the country if the United States launches military action against Iraq. Top police officials met with different embassy representatives yesterday at Camp Crame in Quezon City to "find out their security concerns" and plan counter-measures.
Despite the heightened alert, it would be business as usual at the US Embassy, spokeswoman Karen Kelley said, but they have taken safety precautions. "We, like the Americans in the US, are looking very carefully at our circumstances," she said. Meanwhile, all military units across the country have also been put on heightened alert against possible terrorist attacks, the military said.
Source: Philippine Star, 19 March 2003
RP CATHOLIC BISHOPS: LET’S PRAY FOR PEACE. As US President George W. Bush inches closer to giving the order to invade Iraq, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is urging Filipinos to resort to prayer power in the hope that Bush changes his mind.
In a pastoral statement, CBCP president Orlando B. Quevedo, archbishop of Cotabato, appealed to the US government to listen to the worldwide clamor against war. He also appealed to the Philippine government "not to be led by the might of the superpowers" and to make decisions based on fundamental moral principles.
Heeding the call of the bishops and other religious leaders, the "Justice Not War Coalition Today" led an "expression of worldwide unity" through prayers at the St. Peter's Church on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City and other churches in Metro Manila at 6 p.m. last night. Sr. Mary Grenough, convenor of the coalition in Metro Manila, said that on the eve of the US deadline for Iraq to disarm thousands of priests, nuns, church workers and others gathered in churches in more than 126 countries to light candles for peace against war in the Middle East.
Last night's activities were part of the "Global Candle Lighting for Peace" initiated by such groups as the "Win Without War" coalition and religious leaders like South African Archbishop Desmund Tutu. Quevedo said a preemptive strike on Iraq by the United States would only deepen the chasm between people of different cultures and of different faiths. While praying for peace, Grenough urged Filipinos to prepare for what seemed to be the very likely start of the war, this week or later this month.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 17 March 2003
DFA SHRUGS OFF SOLONS’ PART IN BAGHDAD-BOUND MISSION. Foreign Secretary Blas Ople said the decision of two members of Congress to join anti-war protests in the heart of Baghdad would not affect the Philippine government's position, which is consistent with that of the US, that Iraq should disarm to prevent any war in the Middle East.
The Philippine anti-war delegation to Baghdad includes Congresswoman Loretta Ann Rosales and Congressman Hussin Amin. Hussin Amin represents the Muslim-populated province of Sulu. Rosales heads the House of Representatives' committee on human rights. Ople said his department had assisted the two legislators in their trip to Iraq.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 14 March 2003
CBCP URGES PALACE NOT TO SUPPORT US-LED WAR. The Philippines’ influential Roman Catholic bishops appealed yesterday to the government not to support a US-led war on Iraq and urged Washington and Baghdad to take steps to avoid hostilities.
In a statement, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the government "not to be led by the might of superpowers but by right prudential judgment based on fundamental moral principles." An "imminent war against Iraq is not morally just," the CBCP said, warning that even a swift war would radicalize moderates, heighten animosities and lead to an increase of terrorist attacks.
The bishops also called on the United States not to launch any war as it urged Iraq to comply with all United Nations resolutions for disarmament.
Philippine Star, 12 March 2003
RP READY TO CLOSE BAGHDAD EMBASSY. The Philippine Embassy in Baghdad may close any time due to the impending US-led war against Iraq, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
The DFA said embassy charge d’affaires Grace Escalante "is ready to leave anytime," based on her own assessment of the situation in the area. In an interview, DFA Assistant Secretary Andy Mosquera said Escalante, as the official on the ground, was given the discretion to decide on the right time to close the embassy. Mosquera said Escalante is accompanied at the embassy by an administrative officer, a communications officer, a local employee and a driver.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople gave Escalante such a prerogative because only a few Asian diplomats are left in Baghdad. Other embassy officials and staff have been evacuated to Jordan, along with their dependents. The DFA is also delaying the assignment of a new Iraqi ambassador to Manila, apparently due to the threat of war breaking out in the Middle East. Malacanang, on the other hand, reiterated yesterday its stand on the impending US-Iraq war, saying it wanted the two countries to resolve their conflict diplomatically.
Source: Philippine Star, 10 March 2003