Iraq evacuation won’t be forced as tensions ease
THE Philippines will continue evacuating Filipinos from Iraq, which hosts several American military bases, even if the US and Iran seem to have pulled back from war, the presidential palace said on Thursday.
“That’s good news for everyone,” presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said at a briefing, referring to reports that tensions appear to be simmering down.
“Nevertheless, the move to evacuate and repatriate is still going on,” he said, even as he noted that workers won’t be forced to come home.
Mr. Panelo said Filipinos there need not come home to the Philippines and may wish to be transferred to a safer area in the region instead.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Iran “appears to be standing down” after it attacked two American bases in Iraq with more than a dozen missiles a day earlier.
The attacks were in retaliation for a US strike that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad’s international airport on Friday.
In a televised address to the nation from the White House, Mr. Trump said there were no Americans harmed in the ballistic missile salvo aimed at two bases, according to AFP.
While he promised to immediately impose “punishing” new economic sanctions on Tehran, Mr. Trump welcomed signs the Islamic republic “appears to be standing down.”
The Foreign Affairs department in a statement clarified that Filipinos in Iraq would no longer be forced to leave the Middle Eastern country even as the highest alert level there remained.
The repatriation will push through “for those willing to return,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eduardo Martin R. Meñez said.
“Alert level 4 is mandatory, but experience has shown otherwise,” Mr. Meñez said. “Alert levels are constantly reviewed and adjusted.”
The Labor department in a separate statement said the alert level in Iran had been lifted and the one for Lebanon was lowered to 2.
The deployment ban in these two countries stay, Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said.
“The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will not be processing any applications for the two countries in the meantime,” he added.
The government of President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier said it would send two battalions of soldiers to help evacuate more than 1,000 Filipinos from Iraq. — Charmaine A. Tadalan, Gillian M. Cortez
