angelo dela cruz: a common wage earner trapped in an unjust war

because of hunger and poverty in the philippines, many of us are forced to work in a strange land, in unjust working conditions, and without much protection from our government’s diplomats abroad. (i know of a filipino diplomat who was beaten up, a few years ago, by a member of an elite family in the middle east.)

unknown to many of us, three filipino workers have been killed and three soldiers have been wounded in iraq since last year's u.s.-led invasion.currently, there are filipino military personnel, health professionals, and contract workers in iraq. the philippines has deployed 51 soldiers, police officers and health workers to the so-called “coalition force” in this american-occupied nation. cbs news has reported that it is the 4,100 filipino contractors working on u.s. military bases who have become so crucial to day-to-day functions, providing food services, janitorial work and building maintenance.

one of them is hafidh amer, a 46-year old filipino, who is most probably a muslim. (he uses the name angelo dela cruz to avoid the prejudice of christian filipinos like me.) the pan-arab tv channel al-jazeera aired a videotape last wednesday, july 7, that showed armed men holding a filipino hostage in iraq whom they are threatening to kill. along with many people around the world who are concerned for justice and peace, i have been praying for hafidh amer for the past three days.

about three hours ago, the xinhua news agency reported that hafidh amer has been released by his captors. however, al-jazeera reported just a few minutes ago that hafidh amer is not yet free…a common wage earner is still trapped in the midst of this unjust war.

let's continue to pray for hafidh amer...