MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) urged Filipinos to cancel any trips to Iraq amid the amid the country’s escalating tensions with the United States due to the killing of a top Iranian general.
In an advisory on Friday evening, DFA secretary Teodoro Locsin advised Filipinos in Iraq to coordinate with the Philippine Embassy for possible mandatory evacuation.
“The DFA urged Filipinos to cancel, until further notice, any travel to Iraq in view of the current situation in the country,” it said. “Filipinos in Iraq are also strongly advised to coordinate closely with the Philippine Embassy and their employers in the event mandatory evacuation will be necessary.”
The embassy, it said, may be contacted at (+964) 781-606-6822; (+964) 751-616-7838; and (+964) 751-876-4665 or via email: baghdad.pe@dfa.gov.ph; and through its Facebook page: Philippine Embassy in Iraq.
Situation has been tense after Iran vowed to retaliate against the US for top Iranian commander Qassim Suleimani in an attack said to be authorized by President Donald Trump.
Suleimani, who led the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed by an American drone at Baghdad airport early Friday. He was also accused by the Pentagon of “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,”
The Philippines is currently enforcing crisis alert level 3 or voluntary repatriation for all areas in Iraq. There is also an existing deployment ban of new workers and household workers to Iraq./PN
