I have asked for this joint meeting of the Middle East Preparedness Team, and the Task Forces on humanitarian assistance and post-war reconstruction to address certain pressing issues facing our government that require immediate attention.  I thank all of you for being here and I would like to thank and acknowledge the presence of Undersecretary Custodio who is representing the Task
Force on Reconstruction and Ambassador Cimatu who is representing the Middle East Preparedness Team.  We are fortunate that the membership of these three bodies are almost identical.

I would like to state from the start, that not only do we face pressing issues relating to Iraq, but that these issues have decidedly domestic and international political dimensions.

But before anything else, I would like to congratulate our humanitarian contingent to Iraq for their historic achievements.  Our Tactical Support Teams (TSTs) were able to win the hearts and minds of the majority of common Iraqis they met as they conducted their numerous surveys of villages, towns and cities throughout their area of responsibility.  They cemented this positive image by implementing projects that resulted in a total of 47 medical missions, 27 school projects, 11 water treatment projects, 3 public health center projects, the construction of 3 foot bridges and asphalting of 4 roads.

I would also like to congratulate TEAM IRAQ for successfully winning the freedom of Angelo de la Cruz.

I believe that we should proceed with our joint meeting based on a clear idea of our policy framework.  We should be guided by the following policies:

              First, the priority concern of ensuring the safety of the Filipinos  currently in Iraq,

              Second, the priority concern of ensuring the safety of all  Filipinos in the Middle East and the importance of a secure,pluralistic and democratic Iraq for the stability of the Middle           East,

              Third, our continuing desire and commitment to assist the people of Iraq within our capabilities and pursuant to our  interests, and,

              Fourth, all future actions of the Philippine will be guided by and  in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546.

Based on these policies, we should address the following issues:

              First, we have to address the issue of the safety of Filipinos already in Iraq and the issue of those wanting to work in Iraq, including truck drivers.

              Second, as we are committed to helping the people of Iraq establish a stable and democratic country, we have to determine how best to do this within our capabilities and pursuant to our interests.

 
As these are urgent matters that demand our attention and wise decision, I look forward to your contributions to the discussion this morning.

I would also hope that we can briefly address certain administrative matters relating to the return of our humanitarian contingent.

I would like to ask Ambassador Cimatu to start off by sharing with us his views and assessment on the situation in Iraq.

Thank you.