President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday refused anew to send more Filipino workers in Iraq as fighting and hostage-taking have intensified.

The President approved the recommendation of Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu to maintain the deployment ban of Filipino workers in Iraq in view of the volatile situation.

In case the security deteriorates further, the President also directed Cimatu to update the contingency plans for the repatriation of around 4,000 Filipinos working in Iraq.

Mrs. Arroyo met with Cimatu and other high ranking military and labor officials at the Department of National Defense office in Camp Aguinaldo regarding the Iraqi situation.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the President agreed to prohibit Filipinos from seeking employment in Iraq because the security situation is “very grave.” “The deployment ban is in place and we appeal for understanding from our overseas Filipino workers why we cannot allow them to go to Iraq at this time,” he said in a news briefing at the defense department.

Cimatu said the security situation in Iraq has worsened after Iraqi militants have intensified the lethal drive against US coalition forces and its allies, conducting a series of beheadings and suicide car bombings.

“That is what I am worried about because at this stage, kidnapping is rampant and very brazen in Iraq.

“Now they are operating in residential areas,” he said in an interview with reporters. Cimatu said he would recommend the full evacuation of the Filipinos in Iraq, mostly working in US military bases and other foreign installations, if there is a “semblance of a civil war.”

Malacañang was unmoved by reports that as much as 3,000 employment opportunities could be wasted if it continues to prohibit Filipino job seekers from going to Iraq.

President Arroyo banned the deployment of OFWs to Iraq in July following the abduction of Filipino truck driver Angelo de la Cruz by Iraqi militants. He was released only after Manila pulled out Filipino troops ahead of schedule as demanded by the kidnappers.

Arroyo’s decision strained the country’s close alliance with Washington but won widespread support at home for saving the life of a Filipino hostage in Iraq.

Mrs. Arroyo has asked anti-terror allies to try to understand the decision because she had to protect the interests of eight million Filipinos living abroad, many escaping poverty.

She has already ruled out another dispatch of Filipino troops in Iraq at this time to protect the country’s interests, most importantly the Filipino civilians working there.