Tarongoy released by Iraqi insurgents

A Filipino accountant held hostage by rebels in Iraq for seven months has been freed by his captors and will soon be reunited with his family, President Arroyo announced yesterday.

"Robert Tarongoy is finally coming home," the President said after a Mass in Cebu City. "Ivy Tarongoy, Robert’s wife, told me she is overjoyed and deeply grateful for this good news."

No ransom was paid for Tarongoy’s freedom, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Jose Brillantes clarified.

Tarongoy’s kidnappers had reportedly demanded $10 million.

Despite Tarongoy’s release, Labor Undersecretary for Employment Danilo Cruz said the government would not immediately lift the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to war-torn Iraq. "We are happy that Tarongoy will be coming home safe," he said. "His release was a clear manifestation of our government’s concern over the safety of Filipino workers abroad."

Cruz said the government, particularly the Department of Labor and Employment, had not yet discussed the possibility of allowing Filipinos to work in Iraq.

"We still won’t discuss the (lifting) of ban at this time," he said. "We cannot just lift the ban because Tarongoy has been released... We have to think of the safety of our other workers."

Filipinos working in countries near Iraq are still restricted from crossing into the war-torn country, he added.

Mrs. Arroyo said the 31-year-old Filipino accountant, who hails from Davao City, was now in the safekeeping of Filipino diplomats in Baghdad and would be flying home at an unspecified date.

"At long last, Robert Tarongoy will be coming home soon," she said in a statement on government radio.

Mrs. Arroyo, who broke the good news at the Pink Sisters convent and chapel in Cebu City where she was hearing Mass, thanked God for the freedom of Tarongoy.

"Ang masasabi ko lamang ngayon, salamat, salamat sa Panginoon, mabuhay ang OFWs (All I can say now is thank you, thank you Lord. Long live the OFWs)," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo said she had talked with Tarongoy’s wife, Ivy, who was overjoyed by the news as it was their third wedding anniversary yesterday.

"The Lord really knows when the right time is," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo was in Cebu City to attend the International Conference and Exhibition on Business Information and Communications Technology.

In Davao City, Tarongoy’s relatives were thrilled by the news that he had been released.

"Lipay kaayo mi (We are so happy)," said Isabelita, Tarongoy’s mother. "Dili ko kabalo unsay isulti (I do not know what to say)."

She said her family never gave up hope that her son would be eventually released.

"We just prayed and prayed," she said.

Family members were also thankful to Mrs. Arroyo and other government officials who did not give up in working for his safe release.

Tarongoy’s wife, mother and father, Tomas, together with his brother Eugene, took the last flight to Manila last night where they were supposed to be met by Department of Labor and Employment officials led by Undersecretary Susan Ople.

Tarongoy’s parents were reportedly in a frenzy of excitement as they prepared for their flight to Manila at 6 p.m. They were officially informed of his release at around 3:30 p.m.

Tarongoy’s sister, Lilibeth said it was Ople who called up the family yesterday and informed them of his release.

Lilibeth said she was assured her brother was already safe and in the hands of Philippine embassy officials in Baghdad.

"Salamat sa Diyos (Thank you Lord)," was all that Tarongoy’s father could say. "Lipay kaayo gyud mi (We are really very happy)."

"We are really thankful to everyone," said Eugene. "Thank you for the support that came our way,"

Large streamers proclaiming, "Welcome Home Bobby" adorned the Tarongoy house, while other relatives and neighbors eagerly awaited his arrival.

Brillantes said the lead negotiator in the case, Foreign Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, had for weeks been patiently trying to engineer Tarongoy’s freedom.

"Just this week, Seguis flew to certain Arab countries to meet with leaders and some contacts and he was very optimistic," he said. "He was very confident that something was going to break."

Brillantes said arrangements are being made for Tarongoy’s early return to the Philippines, and that he is in relatively good health, though a bit thinner.

"He is already with the crisis management team led by Undersecretary Rafael Seguis," he said. "We are arranging for his return to the country. He will undergo a medical exam as a consequence of nearly eight months in captivity."

Quoting Seguis, Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilberto Asuque said Tarongoy was released at a certain location in Baghdad where he and other members of the crisis team retrieved him.

Tarongoy was snatched last Nov. 1, along with five of his co-workers at the Baghdad office of the Saudi Arabia Trading and Contracting Co.

Four of the workers were eventually released except Tarongoy and American Roy Hallums. Tarongoy was the second Filipino to be kidnapped in Iraq, after truck driver Angelo de la Cruz. — With Pia Lee-Brago, Mayen Jaymalin, Edith Regalado, AP