President Arroyo has ordered the indefinite suspension of the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who intend to work as drivers in Iraq.

It was in response to the recommendation of Philippine Ambassador Roy Cimatu, chairman of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee (PMEPC), who said that the present security situation in places in Iraq where OFWs are deployed ranges from fluid to volatile.

Arroyo ordered Cimatu and all other concerned government agencies to undertake periodic review of security situation in Iraq "in the light of evolving political developments" in Iraq.

It was also in response to the death of Raymond Natividad, a Filipino employee of Prime Projects International (PPI), during a mortar attack on Camp Anaconda, a US base, hear the town of Balad, north of Baghdad, last Tuesday. Four other OFWs were injured in the attack.

Last month, a Filipino truck driver was killed on the main road linking Baghdad with Kuwait.

Arroyo said that OFWs in Camp Anaconda may be allowed to continue working provided their living quarters are moved to a safer location inside the camp, which will be at least five kilometers from the nearest perimeter fence.

Cimatu demanded additional requirements from employers before the Philippine labour department will allow the deployment of OFWs to Iraq.

Cimatu's conditions included company security plan; and security guarantee duly endorsed by the camp commander of the US base where the OFWs will be deployed. Cimatu also wanted the US camp commander to state that the living quarters of OFWs are out of mortar range and safe from suicide attacks or bombings.

At the same time, Arroyo said that Philippine government's assistance for the voluntary repatriation of OFWs from Iraq does not mean severance of good relations with the Iraqi employers.

The US and Iraqi authorities will be informed of the Philippine government's plan to assist OFWs who want to leave Iraq, Arroyo said.

Arroyo identified five points in Iraq where the repatriation procedures for OFWs could be initiated: at Mosul, Kirkuk, Tikrit, Al Fallujah, and Al Ramadi.

Arroyo said that the first batch of 100 OFWs to be repatriated to Manila would leave Camp Anaconda within a few days.

"Our workers in Iraq who strongly feel at risk must be assisted home immediately," Arroyo said.
Many believe that the repatriation of the OFWs could cause paralysis of work in Balad.

The Prime Projects International (PPI), which had employed many OFWs to work at the US base, would charter a plane to bring them to the Gulf from where they would take a commercial plane to Manila.

About 600 of the 1,364 OFWs have filed their resignation papers and have asked to be repatriated to the Philippines, said Cimatu, adding he learned about this information in a meeting with Neil Helliwell, PPI managing director, in Amman, Jordan.

Helliwell's Gulf-based firm employs some 3,800 Filipino workers who are deployed in different US bases in Iraq. Cimatu quoted Heliwell as saying that the heirs of Natividad will receive $35,000, the amount of insurance coverage of OFWs working with PPI. The PPI also gave the heirs of Natividad additional amount of money, Cimatu added.

Meanwhile, Heliwell also said his company would still prefer Filipino workers, many of whom were employed earlier, during the Gulf War in l991.