DFA: Deployment ban to Iraq still stands

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the deployment ban on Iraq still stands despite the removal of the “Not Valid for Travel to Iraq" stamp from Philippine passports. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) made this clarification on Friday. Regular Philippine passports no longer bore the warning since July 1. The DFA said the removal of the stamp merely means it is leaving to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) the function of informing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) of travel advisories and deployment bans. "The removal of the stamp was a subsequent decision by concerned government agencies that the function of informing OFWs of the employment ban will be adequately served by having the POEA issue travel advisories and labor deployment bans of OFWs," the DFA said. Besides, the DFA said the passports did not reflect the government’s deployment ban on at least four other countries. Aside from Iraq, the Philippine government also has deployment bans on Nigeria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Jordan. The DFA earlier sent a letter to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration saying all regular Philippine passports it issues will no longer bear the stamp “Not Valid for Travel to Iraq" in the limitations page, effective July 1. — JE/VVP, GMA News