{"id":241706,"date":"2020-01-08T22:22:06","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T03:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=241706"},"modified":"2025-01-09T16:22:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T21:22:37","slug":"govt-wont-force-ofws-to-leave-iraq-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/01\/08\/govt-wont-force-ofws-to-leave-iraq-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t won\u2019t force OFWs to leave Iraq: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Presidential Chief Legal Counsel and Spokesperson Salvador Panelo in Nonthaburi, Thailand on November 3, 2019. AVITO DALAN\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 The Duterte administration will respect the possible decision of Filipinos to stay in Iraq despite the looming war between the United States (US) and Iran, Malaca\u00f1ang said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo admitted that it is impossible to impose mandatory repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Iraq, especially when the fighting between the US and Iran begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnang-una, kung meron na talagang<\/em>\u00a0open hostilities, repatriation is out of the question\u00a0kasi<\/em>\u00a0shooting war\u00a0na eh<\/em>\u00a0(First and foremost, if there are open hostilities already, repatriation is out of the question because there is already a shooting war),\u201d Panelo said in an interview with CNN Philippines.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, with respect doon\u00a0sa mga ayaw, paano natin pipilitin yun kung ayaw<\/em>\u00a0(with respect to those who do not want to be repatriated, how can we force them if they do not like it)? We cannot forcibly drag them to a ship or to whatever to bring them out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo\u2019s statement came after the Philippine Embassy in Iraq announced that President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered all Filipinos living and working in Iraq to return to the Philippines.<\/p>\n

There are an estimated 4,000 Filipinos in Iraq, based on the data provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).<\/p>\n

The President\u2019s latest order was issued after the highest threat alert was raised in Baghdad amid the escalating tensions between the US and Iraq.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Alert Level 4, which calls for mandatory repatriation, is issued \u201cwhen there is a large-scale internal conflict or full-blown external account,\u201d according to the DFA’s website.<\/p>\n

Iran’s top military commander, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a US airstrike carried out in Iraq last week, a move that prompted Iran to vow revenge against Washington.<\/p>\n

The US, in turn, warned to attack around 52 Iranian sites, in case Iran launches a war against Washington.<\/p>\n

On Monday, President Duterte sought the repatriation of 1.2 million OFWs in the Middle East, as he feared that the tensions between the US and Iran would harm Filipinos.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Evacuate to a “safe place” while the government\u2019s \u201cmain goal\u201d is to repatriate Filipinos, Panelo said.<\/p>\n

The Palace official 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.<\/p>\n

\u201dPalagay ko<\/em>\u00a0(I think), if you will give them a choice between being placed in a safe place and coming home,\u00a0eh pipiliin nila doon muna sa<\/em>\u00a0safe place (they would choose to stay in a safe place),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe have to place them in a safe place.\u00a0Hindi naman sila kailangan umuwi habang nagkakaroon ng giyera doon o digmaan. Syempre hindi mo naman maiuuwi \u2019yan talaga eh. Hahanapan mo ng lugar na ligtas malapit dun<\/em>\u00a0like Saudi Arabia (They don\u2019t need to return home while there is a war. Of course, you can\u2019t repatriate them.<\/p>\n

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You have to look for a safe place near Iraq, like Saudi Arabia),\u201d Panelo added.<\/p>\n

The President admitted on Tuesday that his administration is bracing for the possibility that the current stand-off between the US and Iran could turn into a “worst-case” scenario for the Filipinos working in the Gulf states.<\/p>\n

Duterte said he has asked the Department of National Defense to look for ways on how to help the OFWs “make their way out” of the Gulf states.<\/p>\n

He said he has also instructed the Department of Finance to reserve a certain amount for that possible exigency of Filipino migrant workers in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Panelo said the country\u2019s frigates have been deployed near the Middle East to ensure the security of Filipinos.<\/p>\n

He added that the government would provide necessary assistance to OFWs who will go back to the Philippines.<\/p>\n

He also assured them of job opportunities upon their return to the country.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Yung mga<\/em>\u00a0ongoing projects\u00a0natin, bibigyan sila ng<\/em>\u00a0preference\u00a0na magkaroon ng trabaho dahil madi<\/em>-dislocate\u00a0sila \u2018pag umuwi sila dito<\/em>\u00a0(We have ongoing projects here and they can have their job preference because they will surely get dislocated when they return home),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2014 The Duterte administration will respect the possible decision of Filipinos to stay in Iraq despite the looming war between …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":236466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241706"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281896,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241706\/revisions\/281896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}