MIGRANT WATCH
Tales of Woe and Desperation in Iraq

During times of conflict, it is the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who suffer. Two OFWs who worked in Iraq proved that deployment bans are useless.

BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN
Bulatlat

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has partially lifted the ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Nigeria and Lebanon, after the hostage crisis and bombing incidents, respectively, in these countries.

And now, a new alarm was raised over the continued holding of the 15 British sailors in Iran. Although there are only about 200 Filipinos in Iran, the fear is for the estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East if a region-wide tension escalates.

During times of conflict, it is the OFWs who suffer. Two OFWs, who worked in Iraq, proved that deployment bans are useless.

PART 2 - Noel Rebamba: Accidental Migrant Worker

Noel Rebamba was an accidental migrant worker. He was just accompanying his father who was then applying as a driver in Iraq in 2003. Upon seeing him, he was also encouraged by the agency to apply, too.

Though he was then driving their FX as a public utility vehicle, he applied as a laundry man in Iraq.

“We know we will be delivered to Iraq,” he said, despite the deployment ban in Iraq during the invasion.

Their batch leaving for Iraq in December 2003 almost filled the plane, he said. In Kuwait, they were about a thousand occupying a small-time condominium waiting deployment to Iraq. Food, electricity, water, and accommodations are free. They were even given “advanced money” which their leader himself almost pocketed.

In his contract, Rebamba said that although the name of their employer, the First Kuwaiti Trading Company, was identified, it was not indicated that they will be deployed in Iraq. He also learned that their main contractor was Kellogg, Brown & Root, the engineering and construction arm of the Halliburton Company which provides military support services. United States Vice President Dick Cheney was defense secretary when the first Brown & Root study was done, and he became chief executive of Halliburton when he retired.

His father was deployed first on Jan. 3, 2004 in Iraq. Rebamba was deployed in Camp Anaconda on Feb. 26, 2004.

Camp Anaconda

In Kuwait, Rebamba was promoted as a translator, increasing his salary from $250 to $450. But in Camp Anaconda, seniority complex demoted him, he said. Instead, he was asked to drive a truck inside the camp and deliver the materials needed in setting up facilities.

“Ang trabaho ng pinoy du’n, sila nagseserbisyo sa mga Kano du’n” (The jobof Filipinos there is to be all-around errand boys for the Americans there), he said, citing the works of repairing the air conditioner, cooking, cleaning toilets, and serving as utility men.

But with the abundance of food and other supplies inside the camp, Rebamba said one could not imagine they were in the middle of a war. They have ice cream, fruits, milk, and mineral water.

“Pabango lang namin sa aircon ang mga orange at apple”(We could afford to use oranges and apples as air fresheners), he boasted. “Ang gatas nga ‘dun pwede mong ipaligo” (You could bathe with the milk there).

But the abundance of supply could not diminish the feeling of longing for their loved ones.

“(Ang) cell site du’n, tiyempuhan, mga 3 a.m. kami tumatawag sa ‘Pinas” (Cell sites there emit signals by fits, we could call our relatives in the Philippines at around 3 a.m.), he lamented.

He also complained that their salary was being deducted by the agency, saying only almost $200 were left to them.

Because they could not go out of the camp, they could only wait for fellow Filipinos whom they could ask to send their money to their families in the Philippines. Although offering its services, they do not trust the agency, which deducts so much from their salary, to remit their money to their families.

“Kapag ilang salin na ng pagpapadalhan, ilang $5 din ang nababawas” (They always deduct $5 from our salaries), said the regretful Rebamba.

They were allowed to take a vacation in Kuwait every quarter or convert the vacation into cash. So he would choose the vacation so he could personally send money to his mother in the Philippines.

Danger

“Kung mamamatay tayo, mamamatay tayo kahit sa Pilipinas” (If we are fated to die, we could die even in the Philippines). This became the motto of the OFWs risking their lives in Iraq. “Ang buhay ng OFWs du’n tsambahan lang” (OFWs there live their lives by chance).

Migrant workers were only briefed about the safety measures upon arrival in the camp, said Rebamba who bought his own bullet-roof vest and helmet. He only feared possible aerial poisoning which most of them have not been prepared from.

In one incident, he was about to deliver 200 pieces of aircon to another camp when something exploded in Camp Anaconda. The generator was bombed. The explosion was so strong that shrapnel the size of corn kernels passed through four double plywood-walled rooms.

In separate incidents, Rebamba saw a fellow Filipino die while on a convoy, an OFW who got blind after shrapnel penetrated his eyes, and another whose chest was pierced with shrapnel fragments.

When crossing an ambush site to Camp Bacoba, Rebamba was just holding his breath.

When he was in Camp Bacoba transporting those who would clean the shower room of the soldiers, he almost spilled his coffee with the tremor that a strong explosion caused.

Outside the camp, they found the car of a suicide bomber already on fire after US soldiers fired at it.

In fear for his life, being an unarmed man inside the camp, Rebamba once thought of joining the military.

“Kung puwede lang may hawak akong baril hahawak ako talaga” (If only I’m allowed to get hold of a gun,I’d really get hold of one), he said. But his application was denied because of age limitation. He was 32 years old then and the U.S. soldiers told him they prefer those below 30 years of age.

Lately, he learned that Filipino security guards and ex-service men applying in Iraq were paid higher salary.

Underpaid and neglected

When Rebamba was on his vacation in Kuwait, the Philippine government heightened the deployment ban to Iraq. Although there were others who were able to still cross to Iraq, Rebamba was left in Kuwait. There, he complained for a salary adjustment. As a truck driver and a translator, he insisted that $650 is not enough considering they were in the middle of a war. He compared his salary to Nepali migrant workers earning more than him but with less work load.

Rebamba had only his passport and a bag of clothes in Kuwait. The rest was left in Camp Anaconda. Based on his contract, the company will shoulder their airfare costs back to the Philippines once they were able to finish the two-year contract. Since he was just in his four month, it was his family in the Philippines that sent the money he could use to buy his ticket.

Another problem was they had no work visa, meaning they got there using a tourist visa only. “Kaya kayang-kaya nilang gawin ‘yun sa amin (It’s very easy for them to do that to us).I know there’s connivance there,” he lamented.

Rebamba said they even approached the Philippine embassy in Kuwait. Instead, he said they were the ones blamed for their situation.

“Imposibleng ‘di nila alam ang job order, we’re almost 1,000 people, dumaan kami sa process,” (It’simpossible for them not to have known of the job order, we’re almost 1,000 people and we went through the process), explained Rebamba.”Ano namang gagawin namin, magtu-tourist kami lahat ‘dun? Pulitika talaga” (What would wedo, be all tourists there? There’s really politics involved).

For Rebamba, this problem is deeply-rooted in the relations of the Philippines and the U.S.

“Kunwari lang na hindi alam ng government na nakakalusot ang mga Pinoy” (The government just pretends it doesn’t know that Filipinos can get through), he insisted. “Dahil (because) the Philippines has a commitment to support America sa gera sa Iraq (in its war on Iraq) dahil ally tayo n’yan, servant ng America (because we are an ally, a servant of America).”

“Talagang binenta kami ng buhay dun, nakakadala” (We were sold alive there, it was sickening), he said.

He returned home on October 2004, never wanting to go back there and work again in that war-torn country.

But any good offer would change his mind. He said if he would be able to find a direct and fair employer, he would not mind going back there as long as he would be fairly paid.

But when asked if the pay is worth the danger, his answer is still a big “No.” Bulatlat

PART 1 - Rommel Sanchez: No Money and a Broken Family

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