Pinoys free to work as security in Iraq — JPE

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile said yesterday there was no law that would prohibit Filipinos from working as security men in Iraq.

Neither can they be called "mercenaries," he added.

Enrile said Filipinos who were reportedly being recruited for security work in Iraq by a US firm cannot be called mercenaries.

Asked what he thought of the report that a firm called Blackwater USA was recruiting Filipino mercenaries for the Iraq war, Enrile answered: "Mercenaries, are these people going to war? You know when you talk of mercenaries, my understanding of mercenaries are people of another country or within the country being recruited to do a military work to fight in a war. Now if they are being recruited to perform a job like security, I don’t think they can be called mercenaries."

Blackwater, an American firm reportedly engaged in security services in Iraq, was reportedly recruiting Filipinos at the former US naval base in Subic to serve as mercenaries in Iraq. However, the report was denied by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman Feliciano Salonga.

On reporting of the matter, al-Jazeera, the Arab online news service, commented, "There are fears in the country that such an activity would prove dangerous to hundreds of thousands of Filipinos working in the Middle East. Many Filipinos apply for any type of work just to work abroad and earn money."