MANILA, July 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Friday ordered the ban of "cross-border assignments" of Filipino contract workers into Iraq.

    Arroyo ordered the Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert to implement the ban to safeguard Overseas Filipino Workers(OFWs) in Iraq and other Middle East countries during the Department Foreign Affairs' 106th anniversary rites Friday morning.

    In her directive, Arroyo said land-based Filipinos, particularly contract workers hired as drivers by oil companies in Saudi Arabia and nearby countries, should be banned from crossing borders into Iraq.

    She said she hopes that the measure would prevent the abduction of contract workers from happening again, referring to the case ofAngelo de la Cruz, a Filipino truck driver for a Saudi-based oil company who was abducted earlier this month and later released after the Philippines withdrew its 51-member humanitarian contingent from Iraq.

    The government has made representations with the coalition campcommanders to enhance security measures for civilian workers, particularly Filipinos, inside their bases to put out of harm's way some 4,000 Filipino workers in Iraq, Arroyo said.

    Likewise, Arroyo said the government has also advised Filipino workers to stay inside the protection of the camps, exercise vigilance and to always keep in mind emergency procedures.

    She also stressed the policy of not allowing further deploymentof Filipino workers in Iraq "outside secured and established bases." Arroyo imposed the temporary ban immediately after the kidnapping of de la Cruz in Iraq some two weeks ago.

    Later, however, the President said it would be up for the Department of Labor and Employment to decide on whether the ban should be lifted or not.

    However, she ordered the department to set up a system whereby all departing OFWs are briefed about the risks or dangers that they face in their areas of work, particularly in the Middle East.

    Arroyo said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert has issued a directive to Philippine missions abroad to ask respectivegovernments bordering Iraq not to allow Filipino truck drivers to cross to that country. Enditem