The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday, July 8, has sought the help of Iraqi and Libyan authorities to rescue the five Filipino nationals abducted last week.
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said that the foreign affairs department has contacted authorities from the two countries to ensure the safety of the Filipino nationals.
“The Department, through our embassies in Baghdad and Tripoli, has been informed that five of our kababayan have been taken by armed men in Iraq and Libya on Friday,” Cayetano said.
“We are in touch with authorities in Iraq and Libya and have requested their assistance in locating and securing the release of our missing kababayan,” he added.
Two separate incidents of abduction of Filipino nationals were reported in Iraq and Libya on Friday, July 6.
In Iraq, Chargé d’Affaires Julius Torres detailed that four Filipino women were on their way to Baghdad from Kurdistan when armed men stopped their vehicle.
Unlike previous reports, Torres said all four women were abducted, however, two of them were able to escape and are now in police custody.
Meanwhile, in Libya, the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli reported that three Filipino nationals were among the four foreign nationals who were abducted while working at a water plant in south eastern Libya.
Chargé d’Affaires Mardomel Melicor said that initially five foreign nationals and several Libyan workers were abducted. One of the foreign nationals and all Libyan workers were released later on.
