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MANILA: President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
reassured the country yesterday that the government will keep the
stability of the nation and protect overseas Filipino workers as the
US-led war on Iraq looms.
"We're prepared. We've been preparing for a long time," the
president said in a press statement. "We've firmed up the security
law enforcement and socio-economic contingency measures to protect
the public interest. Most of these are already on stream."
The president said that while the government does not see a "serious
threat" to OFWs, she has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
and the Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT) to take necessary
measures.
The DFA and MEPT will work together to "ensure the safety of our
nationals, and at the same time, preserve diplomatic normalcy as
much as possible," the President said.
"I'm assuring all Filipino families and their loved ones that your
government will take care of our overseas Filipinos," Macapagal
said. Exhorting Filipinos to be "calm but vigilant and alert", the
president called on OFWs in the Middle East to coordinate with the
Philippine embassies, which will provide them with needed
information and assistance. Macapagal asked all Filipinos to "set
aside partisanship" and unite in overcoming this crisis. The
president said the nation has enough oil, rice and essential public
needs and that the whole government machinery has been mobilized.
Filipinos in the Middle East "know what they have to do" in case war
breaks, an official of the Middle East Preparedness Team said
yesterday.
"They know where to go. They know where the shelters are,"
Lieutenant Colonel Lito Tabang Cura said, adding the shelters near
the Saudi-Kuwait
border were ready for the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who could
be displaced by the hostilities.
"We are constantly in touch with our OFWs through radio and through
text," Cura said.
"Some OFWs call panicking, So we explain to them the preparations to
appease their worries," Cura said.
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was meeting with her
Cabinet to firm up contingency measures for Filipinos here and
abroad.
The Philippines has evacuated its embassy in Baghdad after the
United States advised the International Atomic Energy Commission to
remove its inspectors from Iraq, a labour official said yesterday.
Nicon Fameronag, also a member of the Presidential Middle East
preparedness committee said only the caretaker was left in the
embassy. But he will leave for Jordan within the next 24 hours,
Fameronag added. - Agencies
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