In simple ceremonies early this morning at the Manila Hotel, Foreign Secretary Blas F. Ople bade farewell to Special Envoy Ambassador Roy Cimatu, Head of the Middle East Preparedness Team (MEPT).  Ambassador Cimatu and members of his Team are departing tonight for Kuwait to assist Filipinos there and in surrounding areas in the Middle East prepare themselves and ensure their safety in the event of a war in Iraq.

In his parting words to the members of the Team, Ople noted that they appear to be one-of a-kind in that there appears to be no other labor-source country that has done what the Philippines has; that is , to put together such a grouping and dispatching them to the potential theatre of conflict as early as September-October last year to assess the situation in behalf of policy makers in Manila.  Now, the Team is entering the preparatory phase prior to the execution of their consolidated and coordinated contingency plans, should it ever become necessary to put these into action.

For his part, Cimatu said that the Team has prepared long and well; and that even if it turns out that no war comes, he still feels more assured in adhering to the President Arroyo’s and the Secretary’s view that, even if the Philippine government were to err, it had better be “…on the side of prudence.”

Also in attendance was National Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, from whose Department a number of Team members were drawn.

Subsequently, during a farewell luncheon that Secretary Ople hosted for Saudi Ambassador Saleh Mohamed al-Ghamdi, he received renewed assurances from the departing Saudi envoy, who said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is prepared to extend all the assistance that the Philippine’s Middle East Preparedness Team might need in carrying out its mission.