Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts

Vol. IV,  No. 25                           July  25 - 31, 2004                      Quezon City, Philippines


 





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Serving ‘Shoulder-to-Shoulder’ with U.S. ‘Big Brothers’
Unlike Angelo dela Cruz, Many Battle-scarred OFWs are Ignored by Gov’t

Leopoldo Soliman, 35, was not taken hostage by Iraqi militants.  Like Angelo de la Cruz, he was also one of the thousands of Filipino workers who chose to risk their lives working in Iraq rather than die of hunger in the Philippines.  Wounded by mortar fire, his tale of government neglect is more representative of the fate of returning Filipino overseas contract workers. 

BY DABET CASTAÑEDA
Bulatlat

Camp AnacondaLeopoldo Soliman was one of several Filipino workers in Camp Anaconda, the U.S. military base in Balad, north of Baghdad, capital city of war-torn Iraq.  He was wounded in the left thigh when a mortar hit their cabin on May 11.  A co-worker, Raymond Cayanan Natividad was killed and another, Roland Dayao was seriously wounded. 

Soliman went home on May 19 together with Jaime Balaria and Ruel Santos, also his co-workers. 

At first, Soliman, 35, was reluctant to agree to an interview. It’s his nth interview with the media, he said, and his family wants him to lie low because nothing has come out of his interviews anyway. 

Over-exposed na nga ako pero wala pa ring pumapansin sa akin” (I am already over-exposed but nobody has paid any attention to my plight), he said.  He had been giving TV and radio interviews for the last three weeks, he said, but he had not received any offers of aid or support from the government or the private sector.

After much prodding though, he gave the directions to his home in Quezon City and agreed to be interviewed. 

Familiar story

Like Angelo de la Cruz, who was held hostage and then later released in Iraq, Soliman comes from Pampanga in the town of Candaba, a short ride north of Manila. He took up criminology at the University of Manila but was not able to finish his course. 

Then he hopped from one company to another as a contractual worker – either as warehouse man or a cargo checker. The years 1994-1997 saw him working in Saudi Arabia – also as a warehouse man in Saudi Arabia.

Pero mababa lang ang sweldo, 1,000 Riyadh” (But the salary was low, 1000 Riyadh or P11,000), he said. 

Returning to the Philippines, he got a contractual job with a distributor of Campo Carne products.  Campo Carne, a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation, produces processed meat products. But he was retrenched in 2002. 

“At that moment, I thought I had no chance of getting a good job here,” he said. It was a blessing later, he said, in September 2003 that a cousin tagged him along in applying for work in Iraq. 

Two months later, Soliman received a call from his agency, the Anglo European Services, the local agent of Prime Projects International (PPI), a sub-contractor of the Kelly Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company.  He was to work as warehouse man at Camp Anaconda located 100 kms north of Baghdad in Iraq.

Destination: Camp Anaconda

Soliman left for Iraq with a dream of providing a better future for his wife and two children.  He was part of the second batch of OFWs sent to Iraq that arrived on Dec. 2. 

After stepping out of the airplane, they heard loud explosions. “Parang Bagong Taon. Ang salubong sa amin puro putok” (It was like New Year.  We were welcomed with fireworks), he said. 

The warm welcome was portentous. Soliman found himself caught in the middle of the war. After two days of orientation including military policies, he and his compatriots plunged themselves into work at Camp Anadonda. Since then, a week would not pass without a gunbattle between the Iraqi militants and the U.S. troops, he said. 

“Bunker! Bunker!” the camp supervisor, a retired Filipino-American soldier working for KBR, would yell. A loud siren would signal that everyone should leave their cabins and dash to the bunker, a 40-foot container padded with sand bags at its sides and top. 

Nandun kami sa loob” (We would stay inside the bunker), he said, and would stay there until the ground commander says “amber” or “clear.” 

Sometimes, he said, a loud explosion would jolt them out their sleep in the wee hours of the morning, mostly at around 1 a.m.  The firefight would last until about 3 a.m. and it is only then that they could go back to bed.

But they had to wake up two hours later to prepare for work. They had to be at their job site at exactly 6 a.m.  Puyat talaga ang inaabot namin” (We always lacked sleep), he said.

Little brown brother

Like any other Filipino employee in a U.S.-controlled site, Soliman was the poor little brown brother who was a good servant.

For the last five months that he worked in the U.S. military camp in Iraq, Soliman served as food keeper.  He was assigned to issue food they called MRE or Meal Ready to Eat, a high-protein meal that could last for as long as three years without getting spoiled. 

Pag tinatamad silang pumunta sa mess hall, hinahatiran ko sila ng pagkain” (Whenever they don’t feel like going to the mess hall, I bring their food to them), he said. He did not mind doing that because his job site was near the tents of the American soldier, he said. 

He was also in-charge of assigning a tent to each soldier.

Earning a good living

An American soldier once told him, ““You don’t have to risk your life.  Don’t you know there’s war here?”

But Soliman and some 1,400 of his co-workers did not mind the risk.  They were receiving U.S. $615 a month equivalent to PhP34,000. “Sa tulad kong hindi nakatapos ng pag-aaral, hindi ako makakakita ng trabaho dito sa Pilipinas na ganyang kalaki ang sweldo” (Somebody like me who never finished college would not find a job in the Philippines that will give me this much salary). 

However, the Filipino workers could not keep a single cent of their pay as their salary was deposited in a bank and could only be withdrawn in the Philippines. Their families would receive their salary on every month.  Kaya lang minsan nade-delay” (Sometimes the release of our salaries was delayed), he quipped.

Even if they were not allowed to keep money inside the camp, their basic needs were all provided for, Soliman said. They even had their own Filipino cook who prepares their meals, Filipino style. 

At times, their “big American brothers” gave them some personal belongings that were slightly used or needed repairs like a compact disc player with an earphone that does not work, for example. 

Minsan nga tinatapon na nila sa basura” (Sometimes they just throw it at the garbage bins), Soliman said, and they picked it up.   

Soliman also said they were not allowed to talk with the American soldiers. But on occasions that the soldiers started a conversation, they obliged an answer.  Soliman shares he was lucky one time when a soldier, who was packing his things before going home, saw him cleaning the area. 

“You want rubber shoes?” the soldier supposedly asked him.

“Yes,” he answered while nodding.

“Pick it up, its yours,” the soldiers said, pointing to a shoebox, which the soldier added, does not fit into his bag. 

Soliman could not believe his eyes when he saw a pair of brand new rubber shoes. “Syempre sabi ko thank you” (Of course I readily thanked him). 

Life at the barracks

The unarmed personnel at the camp were provided with bullet-proof vests and boots for protection.  They lived in a barracks where 80 percent of the workers are Filipinos. Soliman estimates that 80 percent of the Filipino workers at the camp were from Pampanga. 

Although they were not allowed to go outside the camp they would sneak out from time to time for a visit to American PX shops around the area. Stores abound inside the camp where they could get anything they want, the payment of which will just be deducted from their salary, he said. 

During their first few months, a few Iraqis brought potable water inside the camp or took the camp’s garbage.

Minsan pag may sobra kaming gamit na hindi namin kelangan, binibigay namin sa kanila tapos pinapalitan nila ng pera nila” (Sometimes when we had extra things we gave it to them which they paid for with their local money), Soliman said. They made friends with some Iraqis.

But not for long. When Iraqi militants started bombing Camp Anaconda, Iraqis were no longer allowed inside the camp.  In early April, the Iraqis were replaced by workers from Bangladesh and Indonesia. 

The mortar attack

The bombs kept coming, nearer and nearer the Filipino workers’ barracks. 

Around 7 p.m. of May 11, a mortar shell exploded near their barracks.  Soliman, together with two co-workers, was in his cabin watching videos sent by his family from the Philippines.

When a second mortar shell exploded, Soliman went to look for Raymund Natividad, his roommate who took a breather at the terrace. Soliman saw his co-workers in panic, running toward the bunker.  When he tried to call Raymund, another mortar exploded. It was too late. The mortar hit their cabin, killing Raymund on the spot while Soliman got hit on his left thigh.

Palagay ko talagang tina-target nila yung barracks namin” (I think they were really targeting our barracks), Soliman said, adding that the reason could be because the Philippine government supports the U.S. war of invasion against Iraq.

According to Soliman, in Iraq, anybody who works with the U.S. army was treated as fair game.  But Soliman complains,  Pero anu ba ang kinalaman namin sa gera nila?  Nagpunta lang kami duon para magtrabaho” (We had nothing to do with the war. We went there to earn a living).

He adds he is in favor of the complete pull-out of Philippine troops in Iraq, “Para hindi nabibingit sa kamatayan ang mga OFWs na nagtitiis magtrabaho duon para mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan ang kanilang mga anak” (So that the lives of overseas Filipino workers [OFWs], who suffer working there to give a better future to their children, are not put to risk).

Wounded

Soliman was taken to the U.S. military hospital outside the camp where he was operated on. He stayed there for three days. While nursing an injured thigh, Soliman said he would hear explosions now and then. 

Hindi na nga ako makatayo, paano pa ako tatakbo sa bunker?” (I could not stand up how could I even run to the bunker?) He would often be left in his hospital bed while the others ran for safety.

He heaved a sigh of relief on May 13 when he was picked up by his employers from the PPI and was brought to their head office in Dubai. Soliman, accompanied by his cousin who was also working at the U.S. military base, was again brought to an American hospital.

Doctors recommended that Soliman undergo grafting, a medical operation that requires a healthy skin to be attached to the damage part of his left thigh. Soliman decided to have the operation in the Philippines where, he said, he would be assisted and taken care of by his family. He felt he would be safer at home.

Before going back to the Philippines, he, together with three others who were wounded in the same incident, was billeted in a hotel to avoid the media.

Neglected

It was home at last for Soliman on May 19 at exactly 9 p.m.  when his plane landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.  Soliman said he was happy to be reunited with his family whom he needed the most during this time of trial. But he is slighted by the fact that he has not received a single cent of financial support from the government. 

Negative ang benefits sa OWWA” (I did not receive any benefit from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration [OWWA]), he said.  “When I arrived, a representative just asked about the incident and that was it.”  

Despite his condition, he said, he went to the OWWA local office in Pampanga and the head office in Manila to be able to ask for the benefits that was due to him, but to no avail.

The latest news from OWWA is that he was told to produce his medical records from Iraq to prove that his injury was indeed caused by a mortar attack in Iraq.  He said he had requested that his medical records be sent home and camp officials replied that they will mail it.

At the moment, Soliman pays for his medical expenses out of his own pocket.  He undergoes therapy which cost P3,000 a week.  His doctors haven’t told him how long his therapy would last.  Soliman estimates that with his fast recovery, he could finish his therapy in three months.

Suffice it to say, his minimal savings are dwindling.  In fact, he had to send his five-year-old daughter to his in-laws in Pampanga where she was enrolled in pre-school. 

He said he will be receiving his full salary until August, but as early as now, he has been acquiring loans. 

Appeal

Soliman still limps but said he is ready to take the risk once more as a U.S. military camp aide in Iraq.  As he was injured at work, he is considered “on emergency leave” and will be rehired as soon as he completely recovers.

As the crisis involving dela Cruz is over, Soliman appeals to the government to give other Filipino workers from Iraq some attention as they, too, are in dire need.  He speaks not only for himself but for all his co-workers who were either injured or have died in the course of the duties. 

He clarifies that they are not jealous of dela Cruz, as other media outfits would report.  And neither do they want the same extravagant benefits that were given to him and his family.

Hindi namin kelangan ng house and lot, ng scholarship para sa mga anak namin. Pero sana lang, sulyapan man lang kami ng gobyerno” (We are not asking for a house and lot or for scholarships for our children.  We just wish that the government gives us some attention), he said.

Soliman concluded that he realized that his decision to grant the interview was right.  Hindi pala ako pwedeng manahimik kasi marami nang nakikinig sa akin” (I realized that I cannot keep quiet because a lot of people are listening to my story), he said as he recalled that he saw some family members of his co-workers talking on television. 

Sana yung mga katulad ko magsalita na rin”(I hope that those who had the same experience as mine will also speak out), he ended. Bulatlat

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