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The Iraqi government is set to reconstruct their country next year. Starting 2009, they are planning to renew their infrastructure and they would be needing thousands and thousands, maybe 10 million workers, said Adel Hamoudi, charge d’affaires of the Iraqi embassy in Manila. “We really need Filipinos’ help,” Hamoudi added.

This could bring hope to our unemployed countrymen as well as the OFWs who are facing to loose their jobs because of the looming global financial crisis. However, there is a slight problem with this. The Philippine government has banned deployment of workers in this war-torn country in the Middle East.

The government issued the deployment ban in 2005 following the kidnapping of Filipino driver Angelo de la Cruz.

That is why the Iraqi government is asking the Philippine government to lift this ban and finally allow Filipino workers (OFWs) to go back and fill up the millions of workers required by their country. Hamoudi said that the Iraqi government would need engineers, nurses, educators, technicians and energy workers in their reconstruction process next year.

Hamoudi would not want to go into the details but he said that the Iraqi Immigration Minister and the Philippines’ Labor Minister have already met and talked recently to discuss about this issue. “We expect this (ban) to be lifted in this three coming months.” Hamoudi said.

This development would definitely bring more hope and brighter future to the Filipino family and to the Philippine economy. With the depleting foreign remittances that have been sent by OFWs as an effect of the financial crunch, this would bring a fresh source of foreign remittances to help save the country and protect it further from the looming crisis.

Let’s just hope that the Philippine government would respond to this positively, while it also finds other programs to help returning OFWs. And hopefully too, the Iraqi government would do its part to ensure the safety and protection of our countrymen who will work there.