ILOILO CITY, Philippines, March 3 (IslamOnline.net) - A senior Filipino legislator has asked the government to immediately send home from Iraq the 96-member Philippine humanitarian and peacekeeping mission.

Senator Manuel Villar Jr. on Wednesday, March 3, demanded for the immediate repatriation of the Philippine team now based in Hillah following the volunteers’ clamor to end their tour of duty due to the dangerous situation in Iraq.

Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, told IslamOnline.net that the Filipino volunteers fear for their safety, particularly after the bombing of the camp where they are staying last month that left 12 Filipinos injured.

He disclosed that he came to know of the urgent desire of the team to come home through an e-mail from Rodel Demetria, a lawyer who represents the medical team of the peacekeeping mission.

The Philippine contingent in Iraq, which left in August 2003, is composed of 96 personnel with 55 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, 26 from the Philippine National Police, and 15 from the Department of Health.

Around half of the team is due to stay in Iraq while the others would be replaced by another group of Filipinos. The new batch to be sent there has yet to leave due to financial constraints.

Villar stressed it is now clear that the mission is adamant about coming back to the Philippines. “If necessary,” he said, “the government should charter a plane to bring them back.”

He criticized the Arroyo government for being “bent on pleasing the U.S. government even if it means playing deaf to the volunteers complaints and desire to come home.”

“The government is simply out of touch and insensitive to the plight of the volunteers. Let us not wait for a Filipino solider or health worker to die before we repatriate the volunteers,” he told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday.

Villar assailed foreign affairs officials for extending the stay of the peacekeeping mission in Baghdad beyond its six-month term that lapsed February 13, 2004.

He said the government should not wait for the U.S. government to finance the deployment of replacement personnel before repatriating the volunteers.

Demetria’s position bolstered the Villar’s earlier contention that the government is risking the lives of Filipino volunteers by insisting on maintaining a peacekeeping mission in Iraq and by refusing to repatriate the volunteers despite the existence of a budget from the Department of Health.

“The government's refusal to use its budget for repatriation would only give rise to suspicions that it is diverting public funds for election-related activities,” Villar commented.

According to Dr. Anna Demetria, the government failed to release the clothing allowance and other promises to the medical volunteers.

She said it is only the Philippine contingent that continues to maintain civilian volunteers in Iraq, while other countries have already long repatriated their civilian personnel.

In the wake of last month’s attack on the camp where the Filipinos are staying, Acting Secretary Rafael Seguis declared “We will not let terror defeat us. We share in the resolve of all the other members of the Coalition, particularly those which have suffered in terms of lives lost, to stay in Iraq and to help the people of Iraq create a free, democratic and pluralistic society.”