The Manilla Times
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Filipino cops bound for Iraq by next week
By Ma. Theresa Torres, Reporter Anthony Vargas, Correspondent
As many as 100 Filipino policemen could be assigned to help maintain peace and order in Iraq as early as next week.
President Arroyo said yesterday that the Philippines would send a humanitarian and peacekeeping force to Iraq next week, now that the war there is drawing to a close and the task of rebuilding starts.
Speaking at the graduation exercises of the Philippine National Police Academy’s Class of 2003 at Camp Gen. Mariano Castañeda in Silang, Cavite, the President said police officers would make up the majority of the Philippine contingent.
As a member of the US-led “coalition of the willing,” the Philippines is committed to sending peacekeepers to Iraq. The contingent would be made up of policemen, engineers and health workers.
The 100 police officers would be led by Sr. Supt. Sukarno Ikbala, according to PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane. Ikbala, the former police chief of Mandaluyong City, is the highest-ranking Muslim police officer.
The PNP has a pool of about 150 officers who have signed up for peacekeeping duties abroad. Ebdane said the PNP’s Directorate for Health Services has begun medically screening officers for deployment in Iraq.
“We need to check their physical condition first to find out if they can withstand the harsh environment of Iraq,” Ebdane said.
The Philippines had sent peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the United Nations in Kosovo, East Timor and Aceh, Indonesia.
The President also announced the creation of two task forces for Iraq.
One is the Interagency Task Force for the Coordination of Philippine Humanitarian Assistance to Iraq, which will be headed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes will be co-chairman and Ambassador Roy Cimatu, head of the Middle East Preparedness Team, executive director.
Others in the task force are Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina, Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, the Armed Forces chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, and Ebdane.
President Arroyo said the task force “shall also conclude arrangements with host governments whereby the contingent in Iraq is not put at personal risk from the application of local law when deployed abroad upon orders. It will also conduct a public information, education and communication campaign on the risks, if any, of sending the peacekeeping and humanitarian mission.”
The second task force “will coordinate and support our participation in the massive long-term efforts to rebuild the shattered infrastructure and institutions of Iraq and help its people unlock their country’s great potential,” the President said.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the task force “will play a key role in restoring order and normalcy [in Iraq]. The present chaos in the streets is a normal byproduct of a sudden power vacuum which our peacekeepers, together with those from other nations, can help fill. Our doctors and nurses can help both in medical treatment and in promoting public health.”
Nicon Fameronag, the Department of Labor’s information and publication director, sees a flood of jobs for Filipinos when the war ends in Iraq.
Already, 700 Filipinos are bound for Kuwait in the next three weeks to work for a food and catering company there.
“This indicates that there are possible opportunities in the postwar period in the Middle East,” Fameronag said.
The labor department had reported job vacancies in Kuwait after a number of foreign workers left during the height of the war.
Sixty thousand Filipinos are working in Kuwait as domestic help, office clerks and construction hands.
-- With Ferdinand G. Patinio, Correspondent
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