In the event that the three-year ban on the deployment of new overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to the Republic of Iraq is officially listed, National Unity Party (NUP) president LRay Villafuerte has proposed that the Marcos government send only skilled Filipinos to that Middle Eastern country.
Ambassador Charlie Pacana Manangan said at a recent hearing by the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) on his posting to Iraq that he would support the deployment of new OFWs there—as requested by Baghdad—only after the government has made a complete assessment of the situation there.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) imposed a total ban on OFW deployment to Iraq in 2020 after “Alert Level 4” status was raised in that country as an offshoot of the then-escalating conflict between Washington and Baghdad.
Top Filipino and Iraqi officials held a Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) in Manila last month to improve bilateral relations, and Iraq made a request in that JCM—the first one held in 10 years—for the Philippine government to lift its ban on the deployment of new migrant workers there.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reclassified Iraq three years ago from being a country with “Alert Level 4” status, or where OFWs are banned and those working there already are immediately evacuated or sent home, to “Level 3,” where only new hires are banned and those OFWs working there already can leave or go home to the Philippines for vacation and return to their employers afterwards.
Asked by Villafuerte, who represents Camarines Sur’s second district in the House of Representatives and is the CA majority leader, if he favors the lifting of the OFW deployment ban to Iraq, Manangan told the congressman: “My instinct will be ‘yes.’ (But) there would be a need for an intensive assessment (of the situation there at present).”
When Villafuerte inquired if it was “relatively safe already” to deploy OFWs there, the diplomat replied: “As far as the reports that I have read from the embassy there are still some sporadic incidents but compared to the previous situation some years ago it is relatively stable, your honor.”
The CA majority leader then asked what types of OFWs have been deployed to Iraq, and Manangan replied that, “At the moment, from the information I have, they are service workers with the hotels … then there are some who are support staff for some US military personnel who are still there … and we have some medical workers and then we have some oil workers also.”
When Villafuerte asked if there were Filipino domestic helpers in Iraq, the ambassador said there were a few, and “they do not constitute a big number or a majority (of our OFWs there).”
After the hearing, the CA had confirmed the appointments of Manangan and two other diplomats—Ambassador to New Zealand and Niue Kira Christianne Danganan Azucena and Foreign Service Officer IV Catherine Cruz Sy—along with those of 11 military officials.
Villafuerte mentioned at the hearing that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was issued by Manila and Baghdad in 1982 on the hiring by one of the two signatory-countries of migrant workers coming from the other country.
Manangan confirmed the existence of this 1982 MOA, but added that, “From the information I have this has been inactive for some time and it may need to be rediscussed and renegotiated in order to update it.”
Signed on Nov. 25, 1982 by the late Labor Minister Blas Ople (for the Philippines) and Labor and Social Affairs Minister Bakr Mahmoud Rasoul (for Iraq), this MOA provided for promoting and strengthening areas of cooperation in labor, employment and manpower development between the two countries.
The 8th Iraq-Philippines JCM, which was held in Manila on Aug. 30-31, was the first bilateral meeting held in 10 years after the last one held in Baghdad in 2013.
Manangan clarified that Iraq is listed by the DFA as an “Alert Level 3” state, where existing OFWs there are actually allowed to leave and return to that country.
Before its reclassification three years ago, Iraq had “Alert Level 4” status, with a total ban on deployment and mandatory evacuation of OFWs there.
Hence, “we need to follow the procedures. There are some procedures and this would involve the DMW (Department of Migrant Workers) and the DFA,” Manangan said.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) imposed a total ban on OFW deployment to Iraq in 2020 after “Alert Level 4” status was raised in that country as an offshoot of the then-escalating conflict between Washington and Baghdad.
Asked earlier at the same CA hearing by Sen. Imee Marcos if he favored the lifting of the deployment ban, the envoy said: “My instinct would be to make sure that the environment is safe for the Filipinos. But that … if that is such a situation, I would go for the deployment. That’s my instinct.”
Before the 8th JCM was held in Manila, Iraq Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Dr. Khalid Ibrahim Mohammed was quoted in the media as saying that the bilateral meeting was “an opportune time to stimulate the bilateral relations between Manila and Baghdad through the JCM, which aims to enhance development efforts between our governments through joint cooperation in areas of health, energy, trade, investments, air services, consular work, education, and culture.”
Mohammed said in a Philippine News Agency (PNA) report that Iraq needed qualified workers and experts for his country’s post-war rebuilding of infrastructure, and the improved relations between the two countries would be an opportunity for future exchanges between these states, “to try to restart the Filipino workers to come back to work in Iraq.”
Following years of instability because of war and the political turmoil caused by the now-defeated Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Mohammed said the Iraqi situation has drastically changed.
“Iraq is witnessing great security stability, especially after achieving victory over the ISIS terrorist gangs,” he said. “Today, we are under a new elected government that seeks to fight corruption … openness to all countries of the world, and achieve mutual benefit through investments.”
Diplomatic relations between Iraq and the Philippines formally started in January 1975 with the opening of the Iraqi Embassy in Manila.
