MANILA/DAMMAM, 20 March 2003 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said yesterday she is prepared to use emergency powers to deal with instability, including terror attacks, arising from the crisis in Iraq.
In media interviews, Arroyo said executive orders have been drafted that would allow her government to respond to security concerns and sudden hikes in the prices of oil and other commodities.
“I will sign whatever is appropriate,” she said. “Actually, there are two things we are preparing for — the welfare of our Overseas Filipino Workers and the sources of instability such as those who hoard or jack up prices so much, and those who plan terrorist attacks.”
About 1.4 million Filipino workers are in the Middle East, but the focus of emergency preparations, including relocation, are the 60,000 in Kuwait.
In Riyadh, the Philippine Embassy yesterday said that while the situation in neighboring countries have changed, it “believes that the immediate situation does not necessitate relocation or evacuation.”
Even then, Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla urged Filipinos in the Kingdom to remain calm and continue to exercise caution in matters concerning personal security.
“Try to maintain a low profile. It is also important that any suspicious activity, individuals or vehicles be reported to your sponsoring organization, residential manager, Saudi authorities and the Philippine Embassy. Most importantly, be alert and keep informed of developments through radio and television,” he said in a press statement.
For emergency, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh can be contacted at telephone numbers 482-3559, 480-1918, 482-4354, or 480-3662.
The statement also urged Filipinos to ensure the validity of their passports and exit and reentry, and to keep personal documents and valuables at hand.
President Arroyo’s special envoy Roy Cimatu, head of the Middle East Preparedness Team, was expected to arrive in Riyadh last night.
He is to meet with the Filipino community in the Eastern Province starting today for updates on the government’s contingency plans for OFWs in the Kingdom.
Community groups in Alkhobar and Dammam have also formed the Kilos Kalinga 2003 to extend support to Filipinos which will be likely displaced from Kuwait.
The group formed task force committees which are transportation, food, accomodation, safety, security, administration, documentation, and information.
The committees were headed by Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre and Supervising Welfare Officer Sotero Tornea.
According to Tornea, the groups will support the initial influx of evacuees from Kuwait which will cross the border of Saudi Arabia to the first town in Al-Khafji. Some Filipinos may also enter the bordering town of Hafr Al-Batin from Iraq.
The Filipino groups in these areas have already been mobilized and instructed to help and accomodate the would-be OFW refugees.
In the original contingency plan, the OFWs in Kuwait will only relocate to a safer area within Kuwait.
However, if situation worsens, they will cross the border of Saudi Arabia down to Al-Khafi or Hafr Al-Batin. Then, they will be moved down to Dammam. All the Filipino community organizations in the Eastern Region were also briefed to accomodate those displaced from Kuwait.
Ambassador Guinomla also formed teams from the embassy to monitor the situation in Al-Khafji and Hafr Al-Batin. Minister Counsellor Mariano Dumia is to proceed in advance to Al-Khafji to meet the Filipino community groups there.
Officials in Manila said their biggest worry is the possibility of “sympathy attacks” from Muslim separatists and communist rebels, who have been fighting the government for more than three decades.
Arroyo said such possibility is when she may need to exercise emergency powers.
She said “there was no debate” over her use of emergency powers at a National Security Council meeting Tuesday.
She said she called the meeting, attended by military and civilian officials, to gather “our political consensus to meet a possible outbreak of hostilities” in Iraq.
Emergency powers by a president is a sensitive issue because of their use under the 14-year strongman rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Arroyo said she would require congressional approval for a martial law declaration but said her emergency powers, which she did not detail, are allowed by law.
National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the military and police are on high alert to prevent “collateral terrorist attacks,” and that the government has urged citizens to report possible terrorist activities.
The government has activated quarantine contingencies at ports and airports to screen those coming into the country who may have been exposed to biochemical agents, he said.
“Although the conflict areas are very far from the country ... we will never discount those possibilities because you know there are sympathetic groups existing within the country,” said military Chief of Staff Gen. Dionisio Santiago.
After US President George W. Bush gave Saddam a 48-hour ultimatum to step down or face an attack, police went on heightened alert nationwide. Police established checkpoints and increased their presence at vital installations and crowded places.
