The Philippine government is closely monitoring the strike being conducted by some 300 Filipinos employed at a US military camp in Iraq protesting their poor working conditions, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said on Saturday.

He said the workers could count on the support of the government, which would "always be there to help" the overseas Filipino workers.

Bunye said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is satisfied that through the intercession of Filipino charge d' affaires in Baghdad, Ricardo Eric Endaya, the situation has been temporarily resolved.

"The rights and welfare of the workers are our utmost concern," Bunye said.

The workers, under contract with Prime Projects International ( PPI) and Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), are based at Camp Cooke in the province of Taji in Iraq.

KBR is a subsidiary of Halliburton Companies, which was once headed by US Vice President Dick Cheney.

It was not specified what their complaints were, but the foreign affairs officials said the Filipinos and the agencies that employed them failed to agree on certain issues.

The Filipinos were to have been repatriated amid the deadlock, but Endaya managed to convince them to hold a dialogue instead and temporarily return to their posts.

KBR manages non-combat related operations of military installations in Iraq, while PPI recruits Filipino workers for them.

According to Endaya, at least 500 workers from India, Sri Lanka and Nepal joined the strike led by the Filipino workers.

Despite a travel ban to Iraq, the Philippines is the biggest supplier of manpower for US-led coalition forces, with official records indicating that about 6,000 Filipinos are working in various camps in Iraq.

In his report, Endaya said PPI held talks with the 300 overseas Filipino workers, but added the talks remained deadlocked. As a result of the deadlock, the company said it was ready to prepare the return of the Filipinos to the Philippines aboard two chartered flights via Dubai International Airport.

Source: Xinhua