Increased protection for Pinoys in Afghanistan sought

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will ask the Afghan government to increase its protection for Filipinos working in Afghanistan for its reconstruction and stability following the death of a Filipina election volunteer during a suicide attack in Kabul, Malacañang said.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde on Friday said President Arroyo had directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to immediately extend assistance to the family of Jossie Esto, 40, an election training coordinator with the UN Volunteers Program who was killed during an attack by Taliban insurgents in Kabul last Wednesday.

The government has a long-standing ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in Afghanistan and other hot spots around the world. Despite the ban, hundreds of Filipinos are estimated to be working in Afghanistan.

“We’re in touch with the Afghan government, which we have very good relations with, that they do what they need to do to ensure the safety of Filipinos in the area,” Remonde told a news briefing.

He said the government is also reiterating its advice to Filipinos working in Afghanistan to take extra precautions for their safety.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said Taliban gunmen stormed a guesthouse where Esto and other UN staff were staying at the Bekhtar Guest House in Kabul’s Shar-e-Now District, spraying the hotel with gunfire and detonating grenades before killing themselves.

Several UN workers were also injured in the dawn attack by three Taliban militants donning suicide vests, grenades and machine guns.

Esto was a former schoolteacher who also worked as an election and civic education officer in the Philippines before serving as a UN volunteer in Liberia, Timor-Leste and Nepal. She was married with two children aged 14 and 11.

Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN Hilario Davide said Esto is the fourth UN worker from the Philippines to die in terrorist attacks targeting the world body.