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The Philippine government is ready to evacuate 1.4 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from the Middle East in the event of a US attack on Iraq, Ambassador Roy Cimatu said yesterday.

In a press briefing, Cimatu, who chairs the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee, said that the government will mobilize a text brigade to reach out to OFWs working in far-flung areas in the Middle East.

"All the embassies have been alerted, including the OFWs, their employers and the host governments in the Middle East. The preparedness plan has been in place. We will implement such action," Cimatu said.

He said that once hostilities break out, Filipinos in Iraq among them 80 OFWs, 30 embassy personnel and 50 employees of the United Nations will be immediately evacuated to safer countries such as Jordan by the preparedness team.

Cimatu disclosed that part of the contingency plan is to evacuate the OFWs via a 10-hour land trip from Baghdad to Jordan.

"The Jordan government has authorized us to stay in Jordan. Then, from Jordan, the OFWs could be transported to the Philippines," he explained.

OFWs in Kuwait, numbering around 60,000, will also be evacuated as the country is expected to be the battleground of the US-Iraq war. Other nationalities are said to be also leaving the country.

Out of the 2.2 million population in Kuwait, only 700,000 are Kuwaitis. The majority are Indians and nationals of other countries working in the oil-rich state.

Even the Kuwaiti government has a contingency plan for its people including the distribution of two million gas masks for use in case of a chemical weapons attack by Iraq. The ministry of public information has allowed the Philippines to have a radio program in Filipino to reach Filipinos.

Cimatu bared, however, that they are having difficulty convincing OFWs in Kuwait to leave, specially those working in oil companies which will continue their operations even if the war pushes through, because their employers are doubling their salaries.

At least 20 OFWs, he said, are working in Kuwaiti oil companies which are located in remote areas.

"We want to talk to them but they can hardly be contacted," Cimatu said.

Cimatu and his team will be returning to the Middle East to personally supervise the evacuation plans for OFWs.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Virgilio Angelo, a member of the preparedness committee, said that they will be leaving Saturday or Monday to attend to the governments contingency measures in the Middle East.

Although Cimatus report last week, upon arrival from a visit to the Middle East, was that the situation in the region was generally peaceful and quiet, anxiety was high that hostilities may break out soon following yesterdays State of the Union address of US President George W. Bush.

In his speech, Bush stated that before launching an attack on Iraq it would consult first with the United Nations Security Council, which will make a presentation of the alleged violations of Iraq on Feb. 5.

"We will consult," Bush said, "but let there be no misunderstanding: if Saddam Hussein does not disarm, for the safety of our people and the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him."

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said that with such declaration, it looks like war is indeed imminent.

Bunye stressed that the main interest of Manila, which has a mutual defense treaty with Washington, was the protection of 1.4 million OFWs in the Middle East, including some 60,000 who are "very close to the possible area of conflict."

Angelo disclosed, however, that based on the initial findings of the Preparedness Committee, most Filipino workers are not worried and are not inclined to leave their employment despite the prevailing conflict between Iraq and the United States.

"The clamor among Filipino communities there is for them to be appraised regularly on the latest developments relating to the conflict," he said, adding that only a small percentage of OFWs in the region are amenable to repatriation in case the situation worsens.

Meanwhile, Sen. Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, said that it is best for the Philippines not to get involved in any US war, even if it would be supported by the United Nations.

"The welfare of the 1.5 million Filipinos in the Middle East should be our main consideration," he said. "We could keep them out of harms way by not getting involved in any war."

Sen. Francis Pangilinan also said that war would only create more hardship for Filipinos, so it is not to the interest of the country that it be waged.

Meanwhile, Sen. Edgardo Angara said that finding ways to cushion the impact of war, such as the prospect of a tight oil supply, must be addressed soon.

In Manila, more contingency measures are underway, foremost of which is ensuring the uninterrupted supply of oil in the event of war.

The Philippines is currently 95 percent dependent on the Middle East for its fuel supply. A war in Iraq will definitely cause disruption in the flow of supply.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, however, gave assurances yesterday that the country will have a continued supply even if the war in the Gulf erupts.

At present, according the Reyes, the country has oil reserve good for 65 days.

Aside from Russia, Reyes said the government, through the Department of Energy (DOE), is looking for friendly countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, for oil supply.

Meanwhile, Golez has called on Manila Mayor Lito Atienza to defer the implementation of the transfer of the oil depots of the three big oil companies from Pandacan to another location outside Manila.

"The closure of the oil depot in Manila will distract the oil supply in our country. This is the result of our discussion with Energy Secretary Vince Perez. So I urge Mayor Atienza to defer the closure of the depots," Golez said.

In a statement issued in Brussels, Belgium, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said that only the full and veritable compliance of Iraq to UN Security Council resolutions can bring the world back from the brink of war.

Ople, who is attending the 14th ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting, said that between now and Feb. 5, all nations of the world must call on Iraq to abandon its weapons of mass destruction.

"Iraq must not hide behind rhetoric, if peace is to be given a chance and if the world is to be spared from war," he said.

While in Brussels, Ople met separately with three key members of the UN Security Council Joschka Fisher, minister of foreign affairs of Germany who will assume the presidency of the Security Council this February; outgoing Security Council president Renaud Muselier, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of France; and Ana Palacio, foreign minister of Spain and a member of the Security Council to convey the Philippinesdesire for a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis. By Jose Rodel Clapano