DFA syndicate linked - Malaya 06.14.2006

Passports not marked ‘Not valid for travel to Iraq’
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BY DENNIS GADIL

A SYNDICATE at the Department of Foreign Affairs is aiding Filipino workers bound for Iraq, including alleged mercenaries, skirt the ban on going to that war-torn Middle East country by not stamping their passports with the markings "Not valid for travel to Iraq," sources said yesterday.

The "clean" passports are being sold for P5,000 to P25,000, depending on the desperation of the applicant to secure a job, the sources said.

The sources said that while earlier OFWs in Iraq were non-combatants, the latest violators of the ban are directly in harm’s way as employes of private military companies (PMCs), the current euphemism for mercenary outfits.

Sources earlier said the US-based company Triple Canopy last year deployed 300 workers, mostly former soldiers, to secure US State department and military personnel, offices and facilities in Iraq.

Bert Asuque, DFA spokesman said, they cannot rule out the possibility that one or two passports did not get stamped "Not valid for travel to Iraq" because this is done manually.

He blamed human error and gave the assurance the rare slips could not have led to a proliferation of unmarked passports.

Asuque added the Philippines has agreements with countries bordering Iraq, like Jordan and Kuwait, for the latter to bar anybody holding a Philippine passport from crossing to Iraq.

Even if the passport is not stamped "Not valid for travel to Iraq," the agreement applies, he said.

Asked why there are Filipinos still working in Iraq, he said they went there illegally. He said nobody can stop one who is determined to enter Iraq.

"It’s the new big racket (at the DFA). Malacañang should not be surprised if more and more OFWs are turning up in Iraq despite the dangers and the ban," the DFA source said.

There an estimated 3,000 Filipinos working in Iraq, most of them handling supplies, food and laundry in US camps. Some work as drivers while a few hold technical jobs.

The source said the issuance of unmarked passports is usually facilitated by the manpower company recruiting the workers or even by the foreign employer.

Despite the volatile situation, Iraq is virtually an employment magnet for jobless Asians, with the massive rehabilitation effort being undertaken by US contractors.

President Arroyo was prompted to impose the ban in 2004 to prevent a repeat of the hostage-taking of driver Angelo de la Cruz who was abducted by Iraqi militants while crossing the Iraqi border.

The Iraqi militants threatened to behead De la Cruz if the Philippine government would not withdraw a humanitarian mission it had contributed to the US-led Coalition of the Willing.

President Arroyo bowed to the kidnappers’ demand, leading to the release of De la Cruz.

Documents obtained by Malaya showed Triple Canopy counts among its services "ensuring the safety and protection of vital US personnel and facilities in some of the world’s most dangerous environments."

One of those of have just returned from Iraq, a retired Army bomb disposal expert, said the local representative of Triple Canopy is Mark Villacruzes, an American of Filipino descent.

The monthly salary is $1,000 a month, to be remitted to a designated beneficiary in the Philippines. The Filipino worker in Iraq gets $150 monthly allowance and free board and lodging.

"Appropriate weaponry and fighting equipment during the performance of duties" are supplied to the Filipino workers.

Twenty-one Filipinos who were in Iraq in 2004, before the government ban on deployment, tried to sue Triple Canopy and Villacruzes for breach of contract.

One of the complainants said they decided not to push through with the case. He declined to answer when asked if they were paid by Triple Canopy for the damages they asked.

In their complaint, they said, "Although we were essentially assigned to provide security to American embassy personnel in Basra, Iraq, who were stationed in a camp, the camp itself became the object of constant enemy fire, more specially mortar attacks and the risks to life and limb were real and imminent."

They also said, "As we continued to stay in our station, we realized that we were actually engaged or were actually involved in the war in trying to repulse the attacks in the camp."

"In the course of performing our duties, we realized that the equipment provided us were inadequate. For example: we were not provided with armor vest, steel helmet and night vision goggles which were essential in the performance of our duties," they said.

"But despite the lack of equipment, we performed our duties with due diligence, vigilance and unwavering dedication such that all of us were given service citation by the US Embassy in Basra," they said.

An Iraq veteran who left in March 2004, before the ban was imposed following the kidnapping of De la Cruz, said he was easily accepted because of his background as bomb disposal expert in the Philippine Army. He said military combat experience is required.

He said they did not have to pay anything and they left three days after their applications were received.

He said they did not pass though the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, the office that regulates deployment of Filipino workers overseas. They traveled as tourists and at every airport where they landed, they were taken care of by people they presumed were working for their recruiter.

At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, they were delayed for about an hour while somebody took care of their papers. They first went to Bangkok by Air France, then to Amman, Jordan, then to Baghdad. They were assigned to different places.

The source said at the end of their contract in September 2004, they asked for higher pay. When this was rejected, they decided to come home.

The complainants said when they were sent home, "after giving us our plane tickets, we were left to fend for ourselves with nobody looking out for our welfare, a situation which was very different from the one which we experienced on our trip from the Philippines to Iraq."

The source said he wants to go back to Iraq if the ban is lifted.

Earlier, sources said another American PMC, Blackwater USA, was recruiting "security specialists" for Iraq.

Romy Redelicia (earlier mistakenly identified as Remy Redeliza), Blackwater’s local representative, said they have not deployed local hires to Iraq.

He said their recruits are now working in Afghanistan. – With Ellen Tordesillas