President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s flying visit to Kuwait this past Sunday and Monday was meant to send the reassuring signal that she is taking the safety of OFWs in the Gulf region seriously in the face of a looming war in Iraq.

In Kuwait she met cheering crowds of OFWs who were happy that for once their president was actually visiting them personally instead of just mouthing platitudes about how OFWs are the modern day heroes of the nation.

The president announced that in case hostilities broke out, all 60,000 Filipinos in Kuwait would be relocated 100 kms south of Kuwait City to a farm in Nuwaizib near the Saudi-Kuwaiti border. She boasted in her speech to the 700 OFWs who had gathered to hear her speak, that the farm has full amenities, safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. According to a news wire report, she even praised the tents that many evacuated OFWs would be forced to live in at the farm, as being luxurious ones that Kuwaitis use on their weekend jaunts to the desert.

I’m sorry to say, but I wanted to burst out laughing at such a misleading description of accommodation that OFWs could look forward to if Iraq is attacked in coming weeks by the United States. I know the president was trying to reassure OFWs that they would have fully loaded tents. But excuse me for believing that a tent is still only a bit of soft material, no matter how luxurious. And I do think that there is a big difference between living in a tent for the weekend in the desert just for fun, and staying in these tents as a war refugee, not knowing when you’ll return to a normal life.

Now with war seemingly just a few weeks away, the media back in the Philippines has been whipping up public sentiment about the looming war, making many relatives of OFWs in the Middle East panic and mistakenly believe that the invasion of Iraq is already underway. Filipino friends of mine have told me that they have to constantly reassure their families back home that they are fine and that the war hasn’t broken out yet.

But while the media in the Philippines tends to overplay the impending war, we here in the Middle East tend to underplay all the horror that could happen in the upcoming conflict. To say that Filipinos, or indeed anyone living in the Middle East, is going to be safe during the war is irresponsible and dishonest. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has an arsenal of chemical weapons that he may not hesitate to use in Gulf War II. Already, US Secretary of State Colin Powell revealed at the UN Security Council on Feb. 5 that Iraq had adapted jet fighters to spray the deadly substance anthrax. Not only that, Iraq still has many Scud missiles that could be adapted to carry chemical warheads. All of Kuwait, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh and Israel are all well within range of Iraqi Scud missiles, and were all hit by such missiles during the first Gulf War in 1991.

Kuwait is planning on distributing gas masks to all its residents, while Israel has already done so months ago.

While all the possible horrors of war, such as the US using nuclear weapons on Iraq, are swirling in the minds of everyone here, most Filipinos have opted to stay put in Kuwait and other Gulf countries. There has been no mass exodus, as most Filipinos realize that they’d rather take their chances here than face unemployment in the Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is well aware that the Philippine government is not in a position to find jobs for the 1.3 million Filipinos currently living in the Middle East, and would certainly never be able to match the salaries they earn here.

The truth of the matter is that no one really knows what twists and turns a war with Iraq will take once it begins. Pentagon leaks have said that the US is planning an 8-day massive bombing campaign over Iraq, after which a land invasion would be launched. Will Saddam’s army collapse after such fierce bombing and surrender to American troops without a struggle? Will Iraqi Scuds be launched against Kuwait and Saudi Arabia? Will Saddam use chemical weapons in last-ditch attempt at staying in power? These are all unknowns that will only become clear once the war actually begins.

Despite all these unknowns, the Philippines seems to be the most prepared and organized when it comes to governments of countries that have large numbers of their nationals working in the Middle East. Where are the plans of the Indian and Pakistani governments? I haven’t heard a single blip of concern for their nationals here from them. While the Philippine media and government openly discuss evacuation plans, there is a deafening silence from New Delhi and Islamabad.

****

Bayani Fernando’s madness must be stopped

The chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Bayani Fernando, has finally gone mad in my opinion. Not only is he having the goons of the MMDA physically attack sidewalk vendors and spray gasoline on their goods to permanently damage them, he is now trying to implement a metrowide ban on men going topless in public!

All of Fernando’s strong-arm tactics are reminiscent of a Stalinist dictatorship, not that of a democratic and capitalist society. I know that many Filipinos support such thuggish tactics and edicts, pointing to Singapore and Malaysia as examples of strong-arm societies that have shown great development, but I really don’t think the freedom-loving spirit of Filipinos will ever fully bend to such gangsterish ways.

The last time I protested about the MMDA’s nasty way of dealing with illegal sidewalk vendors, I got several emails berating my stand and supporting Fernando’s tactics. (I also got many emails supporting the vendors.) Well, I wasn’t swayed then and I’m even more opposed to such tactics today.

Now Fernando wants to deprive all Filipino men in Metro Manila the right of walking down their streets with their shirts off. If this doesn’t smack of social engineering, then I don’t know what does! With the tropical heat of the Philippines, and most Filipinos too poor to afford air-conditioning of any kind, is it no wonder that they like to relax after work outside their homes with their shirts off? Manila is hardly Helsinki or even New York, where bitterly cold winters force everyone to bundle up in endless layers of clothes when they venture outside.

Finally, to say that Fernando’s edict to sidewalk vendors to “obey or be gassed,” sounds uncannily like Hitler during World War II is an understatement. The MMDA has a right to remove illegal sidewalk vendors, but spraying their goods with gasoline and clubbing the vendors over the head is nasty, inhuman and clearly illegal. The president should step in now and tell Fernando to tone things down several notches. For their part, the sidewalk vendors should form an association and get activist lawyers to help them file complaints against the MMDA’s tactics in the courts. I’m sure Fernando would change his tune if this happened.

****

Comments or questions? Email the author at: [email protected] or [email protected].

****

Visit the author’s website at http://www.manilamoods.com to read past columns.

Arab News Opinion<> 7 February 2003