President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered security officials to prepare for the immediate evacuation of some 1,000 Filipinos in Iran should conflict between Tehran and Washington escalate.
The commander-in-chief issued the directive during a meeting with the military and police top brass along with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go at the Palace Sunday evening.
“His main concern is the evacuation of Filipinos there,” Go told the Manila Standard.
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Iran has vowed to avenge the death of its most prominent military commander, Qassem Soleimani, who was killed after President Donald Trump authorized an overnight drone attack in Iraq. Amid heightened tension, Washington sent some 3,000 additional troops to the Middle East, while Marines were ordered to man the US Embassy compound in Baghdad.
President Duterte tasked the military to monitor the impact of the incidents among Iran’s sympathizers and armed groups in the country.
The Philippine military was put on standby in case the repatriation of Filipinos from Iran using Philippine air assets becomes necessary, Go said.
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The President was supposed to discuss the matter during a scheduled command conference at the Palace Tuesday, but decided the meeting “could not wait,” Go said.
Also present during the meeting were newly installed Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief-of-Staff Felimon Santos Jr., Army chief Gilbert Gapay, Philippine Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Robert Empedrad and Philippine National Police acting chief Archie Gamboa.
Earlier in the day, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Bureau of Immigration will stop Filipino workers bound for Iran, Iraq and Libya once the government imposes a deployment ban in those countries.
Guevarra said the DOJ and the BI will fully implement the travel ban should the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Labor and Employment impose a deployment plan.
Some 1.2-million Filipinos are working in the Middle East.
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The DFA, meanwhile, said it is ready to repatriate Filipinos in Iran if needed.
“Let me tell you, our teams in the Middle East—foreign affairs, embassies, consulates—we are ready to help you when the emergency happens,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said, in an interview over ABS-CBN.
“We’ll get you out or we will be there with you to make sure that the same risks you run, we will run as well,” Locsin said.
Nonetheless, Locsin admitted that the government has yet to map out an evacuation plan for Filipinos in Iran and nearby countries.
“Let’s wait where the situation goes. To evacuate is like a sign of no faith in the intelligence of the countries involved,” Locsin said.
Locsin earlier said he believed that tensions between the US and Iran will not escalate into “World War III” because “there is so much to lose for everybody.”
“The Iranians are probably the smartest race on the planet. They’ll think first,” he said.
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Senators said the government must closely monitor developments in Iraq to ensure the safety of Filipinos working and living there.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said the government should be prepared in case hostilities between the US and Iraq escalate, with plans to evacuate Filipino workers in countries in the Middle East.
Pimentel said the Department of Energy, too, should monitor world oil prices as tensions between the United States and Iran escalate.
“[If] crude prices keep surging and [they] could batter our economy,” Pimentel said.
The senator, who chairs the Senate committee on foreign relations, also said the Energy department should find new sources of crude oil as early as now, in view of the flare-up in US-Iran relations.
“The government must study and seriously consider securing new sources of our crude oil. Spiking oil prices have led to recessions in the past.,” he said.
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