JEDDAH, 6 August 2004 — The simmering cauldron of violence and death that has become Iraq presents the Philippines with unenviable choices. Arm-twisted by the Bush administration last year into sending a contingent of troops to join the so-called “coalition of the willing” in Iraq, the Philippines felt no qualms in quickly withdrawing all troops in July when Angelo dela Cruz was threatened with death by the merciless terrorists who are wreaking havoc in Iraq.

Don’t be fooled by these terrorists: There is nothing Islamic about them. They are not fighting for an Islamic state. Indeed they have proven this by the fact that they are willing to kill anyone in cold blood, even fellow Muslims from Turkey and Pakistan. What do truck drivers from economically struggling nations have to do with Iraqi politics? Nothing really, they are just the most vulnerable and most readily available foreign targets for these terrorists to use to press for their nonsensical demands.

And it is unfortunate that Al-Jazeera has become the satellite television network of choice to broadcast pictures of cowering kidnapees begging that their lives be spared. It is such a grotesque sight and one that does more harm to Islam’s image than almost anything else.

In a ceremony last Wednesday, the achievements of the Filipino contingent in Iraq were celebrated in Manila and hailed as “heroic” by armed forces chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya.

Brig. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the commander of the Filipino contingent in Iraq, said the soldiers had built schools, bridges, public health centers, village roads, and water treatment facilities in south-central Iraq. Twenty-six Filipino policemen trained Iraqi border guards and Pinoy doctors treated 16,000 Iraqis.

These are achievements to be proud of. The Philippines was able to help the Iraqi people in its own small way despite it not being a materially-rich country. But now a larger problem looms for the Arroyo administration: Should it allow Filipinos desperate for jobs to work in Iraq? There are already more than 3,000 Filipinos working in Iraq, mostly with the US military. Thousands more are eagerly awaiting the green light in Manila and in Dubai to take up jobs in Iraq. Deployment of Filipinos to that war-torn country was suspended in July following the kidnapping of dela Cruz. Already an estimate of $100 million in remittances is being quoted as the potential windfall for Filipinos and their families if given a chance to work in Iraq.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas has already come up with supposedly “stricter” rules for Filipinos deployed to Iraq, which are to provide them with more financial protection. Unfortunately, the measures just serve to highlight how unenforceable they are, and just how physically vulnerable Filipinos are when deployed into a war-torn country. The new rules call for Filipinos deployed from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia into Iraq be paid hazard pay not lower than 100 percent of their base pay and be given additional insurance cover of not less than $35,000. Both of these provisions are moot right now as both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have temporarily stopped the movement of Filipinos from their territories into Iraq upon the request of Manila.

If even the US military is suffering daily losses, how can the Arroyo administration be confident that Filipinos will be safe in Iraq? The truth is that they cannot guarantee the safety of anyone in Iraq as long as well-armed terrorists continue to roam the country with impunity.

What is for sure is that sooner rather later, the Philippine government will give-in to the clamoring of its job-starved population and allow Filipino workers back into Iraq. Then all it can do is ask employers to provide more life insurance and pray that no more Filipinos are kidnapped or killed in Iraq.

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Speeding, Crime and Bus Trips in Brazil

I SPENT MOST of July in Brasilia, Brazil, visiting my mother. It was my first visit back there since 1996. Not much had changed except for the fact that the airport has a new runway, which means more planes seem to fly over our house in the Park Way neighborhood. That, plus all of the radar traps and cameras that click photos of speeding cars. Huge signs announce “Fiscalizaç?o Electronica,” which means the speed limit is being enforced electronically. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll get a photo in the mail announcing you were over the speed limit and you’ll have to pay a fine and have points taken off your driver’s license. Lose too many points and you could find yourself without a license for six months.

My mother says that they have to announce the presence of electronic radars and cameras, or else any fines are illegal. Thus everyone just slows down for the speed traps and accelerates as soon as they are out of the zone being monitored.

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BRASILIA hasn’t been immune to the growing crime rate in the country. It is the richest city in the country in terms of per capita income, even richer than the megalopolis of Sao Paulo, and thus is a magnet for poor people from all over the country.

Slums have sprung up all around the city, with many of their inhabitants becoming criminals who break and enter people’s homes to rob them. Many of the houses in the exclusive Lago Sul district now have live electric wires running the lengths of their outer walls to keep intruders out. Whole subsections of the Lago Sul have cordoned themselves off into mini gated communities, with security guards at the entrances to keep out unwanted visitors.

The latest crime technique here is what are called “lightning” kidnappings. A person is accosted by armed men who demand that they be taken to an ATM machine. Once there the victim is forced to withdraw all of their money in their account and hand it over to the criminals, who run off with their booty.

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“FEAR ON THE ROADS,” screams the headline in the Correio Braziliense newspaper about how buses plying the Brasilia to Rio and Sao Paulo routes are routinely being held up and robbed.

A photo accompanying the article shows Sabrina, a 17-year-old student, who was recently robbed along with other friends when they were traveling to a “manga” comic book convention in Sao Paulo. She said the masked robbers were all polite and didn’t behave badly. They took all of the passengers’ cash, cell phones and cameras. According to the federal highway police, armed attacks on buses have risen 66 percent in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year.

Although Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva claims to have generated 800,000 new jobs in the past year, unemployment is high and the minimum salary is only around $86 a month.

I remember taking the overnight bus from Brasilia to Sao Paulo. The journey used to take around 17 hours, or 24 hours if you wanted to go to Rio. Now with the highway robbers striking on a regular basis, I think flying would be the safer, if more expensive, option.

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