6 OFWs rescued from Libya arrive in Phl

Manila, Philippines - Six Filipinos rescued after being trapped in Misrata, Libya for 23 days arrived in Manila Thursday night, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

With the six rescued by the Philippine embassy in Libya were three other Filipinos who were brought out of Tripoli through the Tunisian border and flown out of Djerba on Tuesday.

The Filipino workers were welcomed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by DFA officials Ricardo Endaya and Melvin Almonguera.

DFA Secretary Albert del Rosario met with the six Filipinos – five nurses and an engineer – during his visit to Tripoli and Misrata last week.

The nurses also confirmed that two other nurses – Bernadette Pavurada and Lilian Rosales – sent them an e-mail saying they are safe in Benghazi. Pavurada and Rosales are part of a group of nurses working at the National Oncology Institute in Misrata who were reported as missing. All seven nurses earlier reported missing have been found.

The six Filipinos recounted that on the morning of March 18, government forces stormed the neighborhood where they lived and camped beside their residence, just across the street where opposition forces were stationed. What followed were days of non-stop fighting, they said.

The Filipinos were unable to leave because snipers from either side shot anyone seen on the street. One of the nurses said a sniper shot at her, but hit a can of powdered milk she was carrying.

The nurses said they treated the wounded soldiers. Two of them said they broke into an abandoned pharmacy across the street to get medicine and tools to perform surgery on the soldiers.

 Because of their service, government troops brought the Filipinos to a safer place. Twenty-three days later, they found themselves in Zitlin, the town closest to Misrata, where they were rescued by embassy officials.