Arroyo wants Pinoys away from Iraq danger areas

Even as President Arroyo expressed her grief over the death of Filipino truck driver Rodrigo Reyes in Iraq, she said the government is exerting all efforts to ensure that Reyes is the first and last casualty of guerrilla fighting in Iraq.

"The President would like security measures to be strictly implemented so that Rodrigo Reyes is our first and last casualty," Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said yesterday.

"The safety of Filipino workers comes first in the government’s commitment to help out the Iraqi people in rebuilding their war-torn country," Bunye said.

The President has already directed the DFA and the Iraq Team to "coordinate and work closely with private firms in Iraq to desist from deploying Filipino workers to danger-prone areas."

The President’s orders were issued on the eve of a four-day official visit to Manila by Iraq Minister for Municipalities and Public Works Nasreen Mustafa Sideek Barwari.

Barwari, accompanied by Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas, is set to make a courtesy call on the President in Malacañang tomorrow morning.

The Iraqi minister’s visit itinerary includes a meeting with Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT) chief Ambassador Roy Cimatu and a courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert.

In an interview with Radio Mindanao Network (RMN), Bunye said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is "not processing at this time" any new deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Iraq.

"But our reports here indicated that, in the case of (Reyes), he had a direct hiring agreement with the employers and many of our countrymen have reached Iraq on their own and they got their jobs there," Bunye said.

Documented OFWs sent to Iraq went through the normal screening process of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA).

The POEA earlier deployed OFWs to work for private companies, such as those involved in the repair jobs for oil wells in northern Baghdad, which were among the structures destroyed during the United States-led coalition war in Iraq in March.

Reyes, however, was not hired through the POEA, but was hired directly by a private catering-trading firm based in the neighboring country of Kuwait, which was doing business in Iraq.

"This was why we were not able to immediately locate our first fatality, because he did not go through the regular process," Bunye said. The President has already instructed the DFA to give all appropriate assistance to help Reyes’ family and, if necessary, send his next of Kin to Iraq to fetch his remains.

Reyes was killed in a roadside attack in Baghdad by Iraqi rebels Thursday.

‘Role Model’

Meanwhile, opposition senatorial candidate Amina Rasul hailed Barwari as a role model for Filipinas. Rasul and Barwari were classmates at Harvard University and Rasul said she looks forward to meeting her classmate again.

According to Rasul, Barwari was the first woman to ever drive a car in her hometown of Dohuk and is the first and only woman to be appointed minister in male-dominated Iraq after the ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"Nasreen is a very good role model for Filipino women, especially our fellow Muslims," Rasul said. Rasul is following the footsteps of her mother, former Sen. Santanina Rasul, by running for a senate seat as this elections’ only Muslim woman seeking such a post.

According to her Barwari "excelled in a world dominated by men and she showed the world what women are capable of doing."

Rasul said Barwari continued to drive her car despite the fact that children flung stones at her when she drove by and that Barwari managed to complete a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering in Baghdad in 1991 despite the hostilities With the help of Americans working in her region, Barwari was able to study in Harvard where she completed her masteral degree. Barwari and Rasul first met at the John F. Kennedy School of Public Administration in Harvard.

Barwari, who comes from the Kurdish minority in Iraq, is the only woman in the 25-member Cabinet appointed by the Iraqi Governing Council.

"Nasreen grew up in the midst of war. In Harvard, we shared many tales about the situation of the Kurds and the Filipino-Muslims. She knows how it feels to be a part of the minority in one’s country. Now, she is leading all efforts in reconstructing Iraq," Rasul said.

Barwari grew up in the midst of the Kurdistan rebellion in Northern Iraq. At the age of 14, Barwari was arested and held in a detention center for eight months because her relatives were Kurdish freedom-fighters or peshmerga.

She survived Anfal, Saddam’s campaign to wipe out the Kurds, which ended with Iraqi tanks chasing two million Kurds into the northern mountains, where thousands died. For months, Barwari and her family were refugees in Turkey.

After North Atlantic Treaty Alliance Organization (NATO) forces created a safe zone inside northern Iraq for the Kurds, Barwari returned to rebuild her hometown. She worked for the United Nations (UN) to help put the Kurdish region back together, got her driver’s license and was soon directing engineering teams.

She will be meeting Rasul tomorrow at a forum at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in Greenbelt, Ayala Center Makati City.

Rasul had invited Barwari to be a resource person for the Muslim Peace Advocates Conference last year in Zamboanga. While Barwari had to decline Rasul’s invitation, she had promised to speak at the AIM forum next week.

Rasul said she was mobilizing women in Mindanao as peacemakers late last year, when Muslim leaders urged her to run for the Senate.