Pinoy workers needed in Afghanistan - NATO contractor

ANGELES CITY, Philippines - A country representative of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) contractor has announced that thousands of Filipino workers are needed to support NATO/United States Department of Defense (US-DOD) military installations in Afghanistan. Retired Lt. Col. Edgar LaBenne, country representative of a NATO contractor who is now in this city, said an initial 1,099 workers are immediately needed before the end of February, with an estimated 1,000 more needed by mid-year. "We are calling the attention of [Philippine government] to expedite the Afghanistan country assessment for probable issuance of an Area Specific Exemption and not a lifting of the countrywide ban," he said in a statement. He stressed that the exemption would only be for specific areas inside NATO military installations where Filipino workers will work and live exclusively "under the same level of security and protection as the NATO troops assigned to those bases." LaBenne described the salary package offered by the NATO contractor as "amazing" and "one of the best ever for Filipino workers." "Considering the global economic crisis, countries declaring bankruptcies, massive lay-offs and lack of new jobs, here is a golden opportunity that we should grab," he said. The Philippine has imposed a deployment ban to Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria and Lebanon due to security concerns. - Joey Aguilar, GMANews.TV