2 Pinoys trapped in Liberia return today

Two Filipinos caught in the fighting between government forces and Liberian rebels are expected to return home today.

Henry de Jesus and Diosa Banal are scheduled to arrive this afternoon from Ghana, said Virgilio Angelo, chief of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

A total of eight Filipinos are among the foreigners being held hostage by rebels in the strife-torn West African country, a Department of Foreign Affairs statement said yesterday.

Angelo said the government has assured the hostages’ families that it is closely monitoring the situation.

The foreign department said it received information from a Vatican-based religious order in the Liberian capital that there were eight Filipinos being held hostage.

Earlier unconfirmed reports said there were only two Filipino captives.

The Philippine ambassador to Nigeria, Masaranga Umpa, was earlier quoted as saying that the Lebanese ambassador in Liberia had informed him that all the hostages were in good condition.

The foreign department had previously asked all Filipinos in Liberia to leave that country due to the civil strife there. At the time, there were 16 Filipinos listed as being in Liberia.

The Philippines has already dispatched a four-man consular team to Liberia to check out the reports of Filipinos being held hostage.

Earlier reports said a pair of Filipino brothers had been taken hostage along with a group of Lebanese nationals by the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy now besieging Monrovia.

Manila has also sought the assistance of the Economic Community of West African States, who had earlier assured the government they would check on the fate of the Filipinos. — With AFP