NSC sets up two monitoring centers for Middle East crisis

The National Security Council is putting up two conflict monitoring centers — one at the NSC headquarters in Quezon City and another at Malacañang — to keep a close tab on Filipinos in the Middle East should war break out between the United States and Iraq.

The government is also planning to tap flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) to help in the mass evacuation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the event of war, due to the limited airlift capability of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).

"For now the monitoring center at the NSC headquarters is already operational," said retired Gen. Victor Mayo, deputy national security adviser. "In the event that the conflict starts, we will move the monitoring center to Malacañang."

Mayo said National Security Adviser Roilo Golez heads a crisis management committee which draws its members from concerned government agencies, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces.

He said Golez will oversee preparations made by the Philippine Middle East Preparedness Committee headed by retired Gen. Roy Cimatu.

"Each agency concerned has a particular task to perform," Mayo said. "The crisis management committee was created to ensure there is prompt, efficient and proper coordination between and among agencies in addressing any emergency situation in the Middle East."

Mayo noted that the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA) has released P1 billion as a contingency fund for OFWs who might be displaced by the conflict.

He told The STAR that the government’s immediate concern is moving some 60,000 Filipinos in Kuwait, which is nearest the possible site of conflict, "away from the border, in case war breaks out. The worst case scenario is that we will have to relocate people to Jordan."

Cimatu and OWWA Administrator Virgilio Angelo, who is part of the preparedness committee, are set to leave on Sunday to firm up arrangements with authorities in Saudi Arabia for additional holding areas for OFWs.

Angelo said the committee needs to confer with Saudi officials on the possibility of tapping Alkhobar and Dahran as additional retreat sites for OFWs as they negotiate the OFWs’ movement out of Kuwait in case conditions worsen.

The OWWA chief added that when the situation stabilizes, the OFWs will be moved back to their employers.

The Air Force has only one C-130 transport plane on standby at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, ready to fly to the Middle East to evacuate the OFWs.

"Because of our limited air assets, I talked to the head of PAL, Lucio Tan. PAL aircraft will be available under charter, of course," Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said, following his inspection of the readiness and air worthiness of the Air Force’s lone C-130 plane.

Out of the six C-130s in the Air Force’s inventory, four are undergoing periodic maintenance tests and repair in Malaysia.

Of the two serviceable C-130 planes, one is due for maintenance by March, leaving the Air Force with only one available plane.

"We hope we don’t have to use (the C-130s), but if needed, we still have two flying to help in emergency evacuation of Filipinos in Iraq and the Middle East," Reyes said.

There are currently about 80 OFWs based in Iraq and more than 1.5 million spread all over the Middle East.

Reyes said that the remaining C-130 plane will be the country’s workhorse, relocating Filipinos from areas of imminent conflict to safer ground. The cargo plane has a belted seating capacity of 92 passengers, including its crew of 18 personnel.

He added that arrangements have been made with his foreign counterparts, especially those from the United States, to assist the Philippine government in evacuating OFWs should the Gulf conflict turn into a shooting war.

"We have been assured, especially by the United States under the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), that we can avail the use of their seacraft and aircraft to evacuate our Filipino workers in the danger zones to safer ground," Reyes said.

Once the displaced OFWs are on safer ground, PAL planes will pick them up and fly them home to the Philippines.

Reyes also allayed fears of OFWs who are reluctant to abandon their jobs, especially those who are far from the possible area of conflict, that some may simply be relocated to safer ground rather than evacuated and sent back to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, former President Fidel Ramos urged the government to take a stand calling for a second United Nations resolution to push for the extension of the weapons inspection period in Iraq.

The extension will avert the possibility of war between the US and Iraq.

Ramos stressed that severe economic paralysis will happen once a strike against Iraq takes place.

"Dahan-dahan lang nang konti. Maaring pag-isipan ang second UN resolution (We should not be hasty. We can mull over the second UN resolution)," he said.

In a related development, protesters from various militant movements, religious groups and peace advocates staged a prayer rally yesterday at the Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila to call for peace and voice their opposition to the impending war in Iraq.

The rally was called by Vice President Teofisto Guingona.

"It would seem that the Arroyo administration would rather confer a disparaging stance to Iraq than be openly critical of the United States despite the latter’s unilateralist, arrogant and aggressive posturing in pushing for war against Iraq," said Bayan Muna secretary general Nathaniel Santiago.

At Clark Field in Pampanga, protesters released a streamer, with the message "Peace, not war" written on it and several balloons tied to its upper corners. The streamer floated up to the height at which a US army helicopter hovered over Clark.

The helicopter was used as part of the Balance Piston war exercises here yesterday. Some 300 US air force and army soldiers arrived last week for month-long joint military exercises.

The protest rally, which was led by the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), was held in conjunction with the anti-war prayer rally in Manila.

Bayan-Central Luzon chairman Roman Polintan said that a war in Iraq "would endanger not only the lives of innocent Iraqis but also those of more than 1.7 million Filipino workers in the Middle East."

He added that the displacement of these OFWs will adversely affect the Philippine economy, as the government relies heavily on their dollar remittances to prevent the economy’s total collapse. — With reports from Ding Cervantes, Marvin Sy