Libyan rebels take Filipino hostage

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipino engineer was taken by a group of rebels in Libya on Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed yesterday.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said Undersecretary Rafael Seguis reported to the DFA that the group of rebels forcibly entered and ransacked the housing unit in Tripoli shared by Filipinos and other foreign workers employed by a British-owned engineering company.

“One Filipino went missing after the incident. The embassy is exerting efforts to determine his whereabouts,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez did not identify the Filipino because the DFA has yet to inform the family of the engineer about the incident.

In light of the recent developments in Libya, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario instructed Seguis to proceed to Tripoli last Aug.12 to convince the remaining Filipinos there to avail of the repatriation being arranged by the embassy.

Seguis was also directed to visit neighboring towns and hospitals and to arrange for the repatriation of Filipinos who are prepared to leave Libya.

According to Hernandez, Seguis also reported that armed men posing as rebels took at gun point the United Nations World Health Organization (UN WHO)-owned vehicle parked in front of the Philippine embassy in Tripoli and two vehicles of the Philippine Labor Office-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO-OWWA).

The DFA raised to three the crisis alert level in Libya, ordering the mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in the strife-torn country.

On Monday, the DFA said in a press conference that the Philippine embassy in Tripoli would monitor if the situation in Libya’s capital would stabilize within 24 hours that would make mandatory repatriation unnecessary.

Hernandez said there are some clashes in the streets of Tripoli and celebrations after Libyan rebels swept into the heart of the capital, cheered on by crowds hailing the end of Moammar Gadhafi’s 42 years in power.

Acting DFA Secretary Antonio Rodriguez said Seguis reported to the Home Office that only 86 of the 1,600 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Libya have expressed intention to be repatriated.

P140-M repatriation fund

Meanwhile, the OWWA has allocated P140 million for the repatriation of some 17,000 OFWs from Syria because of the prevailing hostilities in the Arab nation.

OWWA chief Carmelita Dizon said 250 OFWs have registered for immediate repatriation.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said her department is waiting for the list of names of the OFWs from the Philippine embassy and POLO in Damascus so it can send them plane tickets.

She said OWWA has also allotted P10 million under the “Balik-Pinay, Balik Hanapbuhay Program” to help returning workers start a home-based business.

Repatriates can take advantage of training in reflexology, cosmetology, soap making, production of scented oils and herbal medicine, and food processing.

They can also avail of business loans ranging from P300,000 to P3 million from the P2-billion National Reintegration Loan Fund. The loan program requires no collateral and has an interest of only 7.5 percent per year.

The government is repatriating all Filipino workers trapped in civil unrest in Syria, documented or not.

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center called on local government units who have constituents trapped in the conflict in Syria and private companies benefiting from OFWs to help reintegrate them into society.

Ople Center president Susan Ople said OFWs in Syria, mostly domestic helpers, are more disadvantaged than Filipino workers in Libya, who are medical professionals.

She also said most OFWs in Syria are also illegal workers. Only 700 of the 17,000 are OWWA members; the rest are undocumented.

“It is a puzzle how this came about, over the years (the number of illegal workers) have accumulated. If you want to see the face of illegal recruitment, look at Syria,” Ople said.

Many OFWs is Syria earn only $200 a month. She said there have been cases when they have not been paid.

Some of them cannot return home even if they want to because their employers have their passports.

“This is a challenge to the LGUs, from the governors down to the barangay level, to help identify their constituents who have relatives in Syria and help them get connected with the DFA,” Ople said. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan