RP embassy in Baghdad relocates to Amman

Philippine Embassy officials in Baghdad have temporarily relocated to Amman, Jordan following a rash of bombings and abductions of diplomats in Iraq, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Brillantes said yesterday.

"We continue to maintain our diplomatic ties with Iraq," Brillantes said. "The embassy in Baghdad remains open and the diplomats in Baghdad are in Amman for security reasons occasioned by the recent kidnappings of diplomats."

He said the Filipino diplomats will be in Amman "for an indefinite period of time." It was not clear if all of the embassy’s Filipino staff have relocated.

Among the Philippine diplomats in Amman are a chargé d’affaires, Ricardo Endaya, who is in contact with the embassy in Baghdad by e-mail, Brillantes said.

He said Iraqi employees at the embassy are on duty to address the concerns of the approximately 6,000 Filipino workers in Iraq.

Iraqi militants last month freed Filipino accountant Robert Tarongoy after almost eight months in captivity.

Tarongoy, 31, was the second Filipino known to have been taken hostage in Iraq. Truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was freed last year after the Philippine government granted the militants’ demand for the early withdrawal of its small peacekeeping contingent from Iraq - a decision strongly criticized by Washington and other allies, but applauded at home.

After de la Cruz’s abduction, the government banned additional deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq. About 6,000 Filipinos are now employed in US military camps across the country, mostly as cooks and maintenance personnel.

Brillantes said the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq remains in force.

The money sent home by more than seven million Filipinos working abroad helps prop up the country’s frail economy. It amounted to about $8.5 billion last year, accounting for about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. — AP, Pia Lee-Brago