By Marvin Sy and Cecille Suerte Felipe
The Philippine Star 12/08/2004
SORROW: Florita de la Rosa displays a photo of her husband Romeo who was killed in an attack on the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last Monday. - Photo By Ernie Peñaredondo
A Filipino worker was killed and another wounded when militants attacked the United States consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last Monday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) identified the fatality as Romeo de la Rosa, 46, a maintenance man working at the consulate.
De la Rosa, who has been working as an electrician in the Middle East for more than two decades, was supposed to return to the country next month.
"Kuya Vodjie called me up at around 5 p.m. Monday to assure me that he was fine despite an explosion. He said they were staying in a tunnel," De la Rosa’s cousin Christina Garcia-Go told The STAR. "Apparently, he did not survive another explosion."
Go said she was like a sister to De la Rosa, who was an only child. His mother died giving birth to him in 1958.
She said a friend of De la Rosa called them up from Jeddah late last Monday and informed them of his death, which was confirmed by a call from the Philippine consulate in Jeddah. Go and De la Rosa’s other relatives living in Tondo, Manila heard more about the attack from radio reports.
Go said De la Rosa was set to come home on Jan. 3 for his yearly vacation. She said he had been separated for more than 10 years from his legal wife Florita, with whom he had four children.
De la Rosa was living with his partner Jeanne, who was with him in Jeddah with their only son.
De la Rosa was "supposed to have their marriage annulled when he comes home next month," Go said.
Another Filipino, 56-year-old Wenceslao Pescante, a carpenter from Makati City who works at the consulate, was wounded in the attack.
The DFA reported that Pescante suffered minor wounds in his knee, pelvis and elbow when he was hit by a stray bullet while entering the gates of the consulate.
He was brought to the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital across the street, where he underwent surgery to remove the bullet embedded in his knee.
De la Rosa and Pescante are two of three Filipinos working at the consulate.
Philippine officials condemned the Jeddah attack and urged Filipino workers in the Middle East to heighten precautions against terror strikes.
"We really have to condemn it. This is the evil of terrorism,"
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Brillantes said.
He reminded about 1.5 million Filipino workers in the Middle East, including about 6,000 in Iraq, to take caution.
He said the recent attacks on two US military camps in Iraq reinforce the need to maintain a government ban on Filipino jobseekers in that country.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the ban would stay until violence in Iraq eases.
"Once more, these latest attacks injuring Filipino workers should serve as a fair warning to those planning to sneak into Iraq amidst the volatility of the peace and order situation in that country," he said in a statement.
No mass evacuation
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ruled out the mass evacuation of Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia and Iraq despite renewed attacks.
Imson said the government is taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Filipino workers in the two countries. He also ruled out a deployment ban on Saudi Arabia.
He said the attack on the US consulate is an isolated incident and there is no need for Filipino workers there or the family members they left behind in the Philippines to worry about their safety.
Imson said all Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) were directed to be on alert and take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of more than a million Filipinos employed in the Middle East.
He added that even Saudi employers are coordinating with the POLOs to ensure the safety of Filipino workers.
While the government is not considering the evacuation of Filipino workers employed in US military camps in Iraq, Imson said it will assist Filipinos who wish to go home. Officials have yet to receive a request for immediate repatriation from Filipinos working in Iraq.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), on the other hand, is now readying the necessary assistance for the three Filipinos injured in the Saudi and Iraq attacks.
OWWA acting chief Danilo Cruz said they are also coordinating the transport of Dela Rosa’s remains.
A left-wing workers’ group, Migrante, said President Arroyo’s continued backing of the US occupation of Iraq was endangering Filipino workers in the Middle East, and urged her to withdraw support.
Migrante claimed that because of her support for the US, three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been killed, seven others wounded and two abducted.
According to television reports, Philippine embassy officials led by Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla identified De la Rosa’s body, which bore bullet wounds at the left temple and nape, at the morgue of the King Abdul Azziz Hospital.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo instructed the Philippine consul general in Jeddah to extend all possible assistance to the two victims and their families.
More than a hundred Filipinos working at the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital have been advised by the consul to restrict their movements and stay within the hospital compound.
The latest attack in Saudi has prompted Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., vice chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, to call for a "proactive" approach to the presence of Filipino workers in Iraq and other troubled areas in the Middle East.
"We should have a proactive approach to the problem. We cannot keep on implementing stopgap measures when something bad happens to our OFWs. Why not completely prevent them from coming there? Or transfer OFWs in Iraq to safer territories," Villar said.
He called for the Philippine government to file criminal charges or cancel the licenses of labor recruiters who still "lure unsuspecting Filipino jobseekers to work in Iraq or in other troubled areas."
Villar pointed out that Filipino accountant Robert Tarongoy, abducted last Nov. 1, still has to be rescued from his Iraqi kidnappers. Nine Killed, 13 Wounded
De la Rosa was among nine people killed when militants lobbing explosives forced their way into the heavily guarded US consulate in Jeddah on Monday before Saudi security forces stormed the consulate and fought a gunbattle to end the attack.
Five consulate employees, all non-Americans, were killed and another four wounded, the State Department said. Three of the five attackers also died in the shootout and the other two were captured
wounded, the Saudi Interior Ministry said.
A Saudi security official said one of the wounded attackers later died in custody. He also gave the nationalities of the victims of the attack: One Yemeni, a Sudanese, a Filipino, a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan.
He said 13 people were wounded, including five Saudi security men.
Monday’s assault began when the attackers sneaked behind an embassy car that was entering the consulate through a gate, then lobbed hand grenades at guards to take control of the gate area, said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, the Interior Ministry spokesman.
The State Department said the attackers first tried to get in with their car, then turned to an attack on foot.
Al-Turki said the attackers also used incendiary grenades designed to create fires and to send up heavy smoke. Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising in the air shortly after the attack.
After getting inside the compound’s outer security wall, the attackers took about 18 people hostage at gunpoint, said a senior Saudi official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Those held at gunpoint were mostly either standing in the courtyard-like area to apply for visas, or were employees who worked in that area, the official said.
But both Al-Turki and Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman in Washington, denied that any hostages were taken, although Al-Turki said the attackers hurt those in the courtyard they came across.
Both Ereli and Al-Turki also said the attackers never made it inside the consulate’s buildings because of security measures in place.
The Saudi official in Washington said the attackers then called a local police station to report they had hostages and would begin killing them unless Saudi security forces backed away from the compound. As the call was ending, Saudi security forces stormed the area and fought a short gunbattle, the official said.
Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, disputed reports that the attack lasted several hours. He said it took the attackers 20 to 25 minutes to get from the external checkpoint, guarded by Saudi national guard and concrete, to a gate inside, guarded by US Marines.
The siege by Saudi security forces lasted 3 minutes and 40 seconds, al-Jubeir said, followed by actions to secure the area, which lasted several hours.
The bold assault demonstrated that Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on al-Qaeda is still far from successful.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Saudi officials blamed a "deviant" group — the government’s way of identifying al-Qaeda extremists it holds responsible for a string of terror strikes the past two years.
Authorities have yet to verify a statement from the alleged Saudi wing of the al-Qaeda claiming responsibility for the attack.
"The squadron of the martyr Abu Annas al-Shami carried out the blessed Fallujah attack by storming one of the bastions of the crusaders in the Arabian peninsula and penetrated the American consulate in Jeddah," read a statement posted on a website used by militants.
US President George W. Bush said the attack showed "terrorists are still on the move," trying to intimidate Americans and force the US to withdraw from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The attack prompted the US Embassy in Riyadh to urge thousands of Americans in the country — many of whom already live under extraordinarily tight security — to "exercise utmost security precautions."
In Washington, Al-Jubeir said officials suspected an attack was coming.
"We had indications that led us to increase the level of alert and to beef up security in Jeddah and in other areas," said al-Jubeir, noting the government was at a higher threat level.
He said the nature of the attack — the weapons used and the high-profile Western target — indicated it may have been carried out by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group that has claimed responsibility for other attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Monday’s attack came a week after the deputy leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, warned in a videotape that Washington must change its policies or face further attacks by the terror group.
Saudi and US officials have blamed al-Qaeda, led by Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, for all major militant attacks in the kingdom since May 2003.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose country chairs the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, denounced Monday’s attack.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the root causes of terrorism lie in the unresolved situations in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding that "the question of justice, oppression, marginalization need to be addressed."
Syed Hamid stressed that governments worldwide "must not think using force is the answer or using military might will solve the problem." — With reports from Mayen Jaymalin, Marichu Villanueva