It was the Philippine flag flying proudly over the Embassy that led two distressed kababayan of ours to safety. Mario and Dominic, both first timers in Iraq, fled from their employer who they said overworked and underpaid them. They took a taxi and asked to be brought to the Embassy, which was located at Al-Jadriyah District in Baghdad’s Red Zone.

Mario and Dominic gave the taxi driver the general directions to the Embassy but they somehow could not find it. They kept going around Jadriyah until Mario finally spotted the national colors flying above the chancery. That was two months ago.

This morning, Mario and Dominic are finally going home. They will join the list of distressed kababayan the Embassy has been repatriating in the past several months. Most of the repatriates were from Kurdistan who were displaced by the economic difficulties that have affected the northern region.

This particular repatriation is different. It is the first time that I would be accompanying kababayans home since I first arrived in Baghdad in 2015. I will be accompanied by our Administrative Officer Lito Ruedas. Since both of us were due for home office consultations, we decided to schedule the flight home of Mario and Dominic with ours.

There was a third repatriate who would be travelling home with us. Christine was one of many Filipinos who have been displaced by the economic troubles besetting the Kurdistan Region. She decided to Christine had requested the Embassy’s assistance in getting home to her nine-year-old son.

Her request was approved the other day by the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Last night she took the last flight out of Erbil heading to Baghdad for the journey back to Manila. 

Upon boarding Qatar Airways Flight QR445, we encountered another kababayan, Alejandro, a former private school teacher who now works as an administrative assistant in a British security company in Baghdad. He is flying home to spend the holidays with his family in Singalong.

He has been working in Iraq since 2005. Alejandro’s earnings allowed him to send his three sons to college. One is now an electrical engineer. The other is a medical technologist. The third is taking multimedia arts. Alejandro will be returning to Baghdad after New Year. I asked him if he was aware of the deployment ban. He said he was. I asked how he intends to go back. “Bahala na po, Sir,” he said. 

* * *

We arrived at Hamad International past 1 p.m. We could see the excitement in the faces of our three kababayans as we disembarked from the Airbus 320 that flew us in from Baghdad.

“Ilang oras na lang,” Mario said.

We immediately proceeded to airport screening. I had to go through pat down. It must have been the metal buckle of my shoes. Christine was also not lucky. Her handcarry had to go through secondary screening. When her luggage was opened, it yielded three pointed objects that I thought were used to trim nails.

When I asked her later what they were, she said they were steak knives. And they were beautiful knives. Just how airport screening in Erbil and Baghdad missed those knives has left us scratching our heads. 

Lito went through with no problem. But as we were preparing to leave the screening area,  I saw his jaw drop. There was that look of panic on his face.

“Yung relo ko Sir! Nawawala!” He rushed back to the xray area and asked if the screeners saw his prized Omega De Ville. The security staff joined him in looking for the timepiece. Lito checked the plastic bins.

“Wala sa bag mo?” I asked Lito.

“Wala Sir, tinignan ko na,” he replied. He kept looking for it, and kept going back and forth.

A security supervisor came and asked him, “Sir, did you check your bag?” Lito paused and decided to check a second time. He opened the outer pocket and then said: “Sir, andito po pala.”

Since I had accumulated so many miles with Qatar Airways, I have the privilege of bringing a certain number of guests with me to their business class lounge. I often travel alone and have never been able to bring guests with me.

I went up to check and the Filipina ground staff said I can bring as many as six guests. I was able to bring all five of them in. It’s much more comfortable here than in the waiting areas near the gate. Here, I got to learn more about our fellow travelers. 

While eating our lunch, Alejandro excitedly showed us photos that were being posted online of overseas workers receiving Christmas packages upon arrival in Manila. They said those were chocolates from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and Duty Free Philippines

“Sana mabigyan din tayo pagdating natin bukas,” the other three said. Our conversation then shifted back to the situation in the Philippines. I asked them about their views of the President and his administration.

All four said they are happy with developments in the Philippines and they fully support the President. Am not surprised. Most of our kababayans in Iraq would have voted for him had they been given the change to participate in overseas voting last year. 

We left the lounge at 5 p.m. for the five minute walk to Gate A1. There our group of six became nine after we encountered three deaf Iraqi youths who we issued visas to just a few weeks earlier. The three recognized Lito and gestured that they are taking the same flight to Manila with us. The three are visiting the Philippines upon the invitation of the family of a deaf Filipina based in Davao who was the girlfriend of one of them.

Problem is, they are not bringing their confirmed hotel reservations with them. They might encounter problems upon arrival at immigration in Manila and end up being sent back to Baghdad. I have asked Jerome Friaz to send me the documents they filed with us when they applied for their visas. I will just alert immigration upon arrival in Manila.

* * *

Qatar Airlines Flight QR934 arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport ahead of schedule this morning. In fact, it was about 20 minutes early. The flight was overbooked and we were not seated together. I was the first to disembark and had to wait for my companions at the other end of the connecting tube. Lito was seated at the rear end of the aircraft and came out last. We waited a bit for Alejandro and the three Iraqis before we decided to walk ahead.

“Naku, baka wala na kayo  maabutan na chocolate,” I told them as we started making our way to the immigration counters.

Lito and I took the diplomatic lane of the immigration desks and after we were both processed we asked the immigration officer if he could accommodate the three. We said they were distressed  nationals who we were accompanying home. He said no problem and proceeded to process Mario, Dominick and Christine.

We thanked him and then proceeded to go to the luggage claim area when I got reminded of the three Iraqis. I went to the nearest immigration supervisor on duty and advised him to expect three deaf Iraqis who do not have their supporting papers with them. Just as I was saying that, I saw the three Iraqi visitors approaching one of the immigration desks. I waved at them.

“Sila po ba, Sir?” The supervisor asked. I nodded. “Sige po kami na po bahala sa kanila.” 

* * *

We told Mario, Dominic and Christine to go ahead while Lito and I waited to be sure that our three visitors are assisted. We got to chat with two other immigration officers who approached us. They asked about our life in Baghdad and we shared a few stories about Bilibid with them.

They commented how difficult our assignment was and thanked us for our service. We then proceeded to the assigned conveyor belt for QR935 to join the other three who went ahead of us. When we found them, we expected to see them holding their Christmas goodies but they were not.

“Nasaan ang mga Pamaskong regalo niyo?” I asked.

“Wala naman, Sir,” Dominic said. There were no gift bags of chocolates waiting for them. It was a big letdown although they were more than happy being home again.

After we gathered all our luggage, it was time to say goodbye. We took one last selfie of the group. Alejandro went ahead. He was going home to Singalong. Christine had to wait for a relative to bring her home to Malabon. Lito was going home to Las Piñas. Mario and Dominic were going to take the bus north to Pampanga and Ilocos Sur, respectively.

Since I, too, was headed that way, I offered to take Dominic to the bus station in Pasay and Mario to the jeep terminal in San Fernando. Both said yes with Dominic deciding to take his connecting ride in San Fernando via La Union. While waiting for the vehicle that was to get me, I asked the two to look after my luggage while I went to the Duty Free store at the pick up area to get something. 

* * *

It was past nine a.m. when we took off for San Fernando. Traffic was, as expected, really bad at EDSA. At least I had Mario and Dominic for company for the long drive home. The two spent more or less two months with the rest of us boys in Bilibid.

When they came knocking at the Embassy after escaping from their employer, they only had the clothes they had on with them. Their employer wanted us at first to pay $2000.00 for each as penalty for not finishing their two-year contract. The employer was citing the same contract he himself violated. We reported the employer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A few weeks later, the employer agreed to secure their exit visas. We were able to get their visas and belongings from their employer the day before their flight home.

On the drive home, I asked what Mario’s plans are. He had worked in Afghanistan before and wants to try it out in Japan. He told me he wants to raise enough money to be able to start a small fishpond business. Dominic used to be a bus driver in La Union. I asked if he wanted to go back to driving and he said yes. I promised to help him get a job with one of the bus companies serving the north. 

I was not feeling well by the time we arrived at the bus and jeepney terminal at Robinsons Starmills in San Fernando. The cough worsened. I was also running a slight fever. I would have wanted to personally deliver Mario to his waiting wife and children two towns away but my body was demanding that I take a much needed rest. It was time to say goodbye. Mario and Dominic were profuse in expressing their gratitude to the Bilibid boys for looking after them in Baghdad.

Before parting ways, I told them to wait. I opened the trunk of the car and took the two yellow bags I got earlier at the NAIA Duty Free shop. Both bags had the chocolates that Mario and Dominic were earlier wishing for when we arrived.

“Pamasko ng mga bata,” I told them. The two smiled and thanked me again. We shook hands and said goodbye one last time.

Manila, 7 December 2017