2 Pinay maids of Gadhafi kin home today

MANILA, Philippines - Two Filipina domestic helpers who were rescued from the household of a relative of fallen Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi are arriving today, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported.

Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said Diana Jill Rivera and Mary Anne Almario have already boarded their flight home and are scheduled to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) this afternoon. 

Cruz said the two household workers would finally be reunited with their families after working for years with the niece of Gadhafi in Tripoli.

Like the other workers repatriated from Libya, Cruz said the two workers would be getting P10,000 each as financial assistance from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

The Blas F. Ople Policy Center said two workers would be given jobs at a Cebu hotel.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) rescued the two household workers who have long been wanting to escape from their employer since hostilities erupted in Libya last February.

Ople Center head Susan Ople said several non-government organizations are also planning to host a thanksgiving dinner in honor of Labor Attaché Nasser Mustafa who spearheaded the rescue of the two workers.

Ople added that Days Hotel president James Concepcion expressed willingness to employ the two women in one of his hotels in Cebu City after they complete the required on-the-job training.

The Ople Center has made arrangements for the family of Almario to travel from Isabela to Manila as the labor department continues to work on travel arrangements for the returning Filipino workers and Mustafa.

Accompanied by an embassy driver and a Libyan friend, Mustafa was able to track down the residence where their employer was allegedly holding the two women.

The rescue was carried out while the rest of the household was asleep.

When Rivera and Almario boarded the waiting car, Mustafa immediately told the driver to proceed to the border of Tunisia.

Philippine embassy officials in Qatar, meanwhile, also rescued another female overseas worker illegally detained at the deportation center there.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, presidential adviser on OFWs concerns, said the female worker whose name has been withheld by embassy officials in Qatar, was detained last Sept. 4 on suspicion that she absconded from her contract with her former employer.

Binay said the female worker managed to send word of her situation through text messages that prompted him to immediately order the Philippine embassy in Qatar to assist the detained worker. 

Embassy officials located the employer, who then informed Qatari immigration officials that the female worker has been cleared.  – With Jose Rodel Clapano