Rodriguez to govt: Evacuate OFWs now

By NITZ ARANCON, Correspondent

REP. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District on Tuesday called on the Duterte administration to start the evacuation of Filipino workers in Iran and Iraq as tension continued to escalate as a result of a Jan. 3 drone strike that killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad on US President Donald Trump’s order.

But despite the looming war, and Iran’s missile-strike retaliation on military bases that house US troops in Iraq, the Duterte administration would not impose mandatory repatriation of overseas Filipinos. Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the government would respect the decision of Filipino citizens who wish to stay in Iraq despite the looming war.

As of yesterday afternoon, more than a dozen missiles were launched from Iran, hitting the Al Asad and Erbil military bases in Iraq holding troops from the US in what was believed as an Iranian retaliation to a US drone strike that killed Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite Quds military force.

No Filipino was hurt in the Iranian missile strike, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

“So far, US said no Filipinos found to have been hurt. But search and damage assessment not complete,” Locsin stated on his Twitter account, citing information from the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC.

According to official count from the Embassy, there are around 1,190 documented and 450 undocumented Filipinos in Iraq alone.

Rodriguez expressed alarm even as he urged the Duterte administration to act fast.

“Our Filipino workers should now be immediately evacuated. Time is of the essence to avoid Filipino casualties,” said Rodriguez.

While a committee has been formed to study the evacuation of Filipinos in the entire Middle East, evacuation should start now, according to Rodriguez.

He said, “In view of the deepening crisis in the Middle East, I call for the immediate evacuation of Filipinos in Iran and Iraq.” 

Rodriguez added: “Iran will definitely avenge the death of Soleimani by hitting Americans and American military assets, and the US is ready to strike 52 targets in Iran in case American personnel or assets are hit. 

“Iraq, which is now highly influenced by Iran, has called for the withdrawal of American troops there which the US government is not prepared to do. 

“These countries are the powder kegs of almost certain violence.”

On orders from Duterte, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said he would immediately act on evacuating Filipinos from Iraq.

“I will do my best to do another mission for our country, to bring Filipinos out of harm’s way,” Cimatu said. “I believe that this could be the target, initially… Almost the same area where the Iranian general was killed,” Cimatu said.

In 2003, Cimatu served as a special envoy to the Middle East of the then-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; he helped repatriate Filipinos caught in the war in Iraq.

Panelo said the Armed Forces was ordered to prepare its air and naval assets for the evacuation, in case armed or military warfare between the US and Iran takes place.

Panelo, meanwhile, said it is impossible to impose mandatory repatriation of Filipino workers in Iraq.

“First and foremost, if there are open hostilities already, repatriation is out of the question because there is already a shooting war,” Panelo said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

“With respect to those who do not want to be repatriated, how can we force them if they do not like to? We cannot forcibly drag them to a ship or to whatever to bring them out,” he said.

The Philippine Embassy in Iraq has announced that President Duterte has ordered all Filipinos living and working in Iraq to return to the Philippines.

The President’s latest order was issued after the highest threat alert was raised in Baghdad amid the escalating tensions between the US and Iraq.

Alert Level 4, which calls for mandatory repatriation, is issued “when there is a large-scale internal conflict or full-blown external account,” according to the DFA’s website.

On Monday, Duterte sought the repatriation of 1.2 million Filipino workers in the Middle East even as he feared that the tensions between the US and Iran would harm Filipinos.

Panelo said the government is looking for a place in the Middle East that would serve as a temporary home to Filipinos who will be asked to leave Iraq in the meantime.

“They don’t need to return home while there is a war. Of course, you can’t repatriate them. You have to look for a safe place near Iraq, like Saudi Arabia,” he said. (with reports from PNA)