MANILA, 19 November 2003 — President Gloria Arroyo said yesterday that Philippine troops stationed in Iraq would be pulled out if the security situation threatened their safety.
In a statement, which observers viewed as an attempt to reassure an uneasy public, Arroyo, the most vocal Southeast Asian ally of US President George W. Bush, said her government would respond quickly to dangers in Iraq.
“We shall closely monitor developments directly from the ground and we will ensure that our nationals will be kept out of harm’s way and will be immediately evacuated if called for by the shifting situation,” Arroyo said.
Amid worsening violence in Iraq, 19 Italians were killed in an anti-coalition suicide bombing in southern Iraq last week. Shortly afterward, Japan toned down an earlier pledge to send troops to Iraq by the end of 2003.
Philippine Military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said there were 96 Filipinos serving in Iraq — 56 soldiers, 26 policemen and 14 health and social workers.
The Philippines pledged to the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council last month to boost its number of troops to 500 early next year.
But Arroyo said yesterday: “We have to balance our international commitments against the safety of our own peacekeepers and humanitarian workers.”
