Manila to wait for UN decision

The Philippines will wait for the United Nations to authorize US military action against Iraq before extending assistance to its long-time ally, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said yesterday.

The US Congress yesterday gave President George W. Bush the authority "to use force" against Iraq for allegedly building weapons of mass destruction.

However, it will take a while before any conflict between the US and Iraq breaks out because Washington has yet to get UN sanction, Golez said.

"They will await the outcome of the debate among the five permanent members of the powerful UN Security Council," he said. Aside from the United States, the other permanent council members are Russia, China, France and Britain.

In a meeting at Malacañang on Oct. 1, the National Security Council affirmed the Philippines’ readiness to extend "political, security and humanitarian assistance" to Washington on the assumption that a US attack on Iraq would have the backing of the UN Security Council.

Some lawmakers earlier urged caution against supporting the US. "I hope that our friendship with the US would not draw us unnecessarily into the war between the US and Iraq," Sen. Aquilino Pimentel said.

Golez said the US congressional approval of US military action against Iraq "is part of the unfolding scenario which we anticipated at the NSC meeting."

In an earlier interview, Golez said the council considered a unilateral attack by Washington on Iraq "hypothetical at the moment" and would convene another meeting if that scenario appears imminent.

"Right now, we are assuming that any attack will come with the approval of the UN Security Council," he said.

Golez said the council endorsed Mrs. Arroyo’s policy statement last month expressing continued commitment to the war against terrorism, "support for the US case against Iraq coupled with our desire to eliminate weapons of mass destruction."

It also endorsed "our preparedness to extend political, security and humanitarian assistance to the US in the pursuit of its national interest which coincide with those with ours to defeat terrorism."

"In other words, we are stressing here there must be a congruence of US interests and our national interests," Golez said.

He refused to elaborate on Mrs. Arroyo’s earlier offer to open the country’s airspace and facilities for "humanitarian assistance" to the international anti-terrorism coalition.

Last month, Mrs. Arroyo said US warplanes and vessels bound for Iraq may pass through the country but later backtracked, saying Manila would only provide humanitarian assistance.

The council — which is headed by Mrs. Arroyo and includes former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, congressional leaders and top security officials — also set aside P200 million for evacuation of Filipino workers who might be affected by an outbreak of war.

There are 1.2 million Filipinos in the Middle East, of which 122 live in Iraq –mostly United Nations staff and Philippine embassy personnel and their dependents, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

A crisis team headed by retired Armed Forces chief Gen. Roy Cimatu said "a possible relocation to safer grounds, not a massive evacuation, would be sufficient" for Filipinos living and working in the Middle East.

It also agreed to ask the country’s oil firms to increase their present 12 days’ oil reserve to 40 days out of concern over possible price increases, Golez added.

She said her government is looking at ways to increase in-country inventory of fuel, including use of additional storage facilities while looking at non-traditional supplemental sources of oil.

The government would also seek the cooperation of transport groups in controlling fare rates. — With Efren Danao