Mystery surrounds fate of Pinoy in Iraq

Mystery shrouded the fate of a Filipino taken hostage in Iraq as the government said yesterday it was unable to confirm a report by Arab television channel Al Jazeera that he had been released.

Local media quoted Al Jazeera television as reporting that Robert Tarongoy, who was abducted with a Nepali, an American and three Iraqis from the offices of his Saudi employer in Baghdad on Monday, was released Friday night after his wife made a televised appeal to his captors.

But Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Gilberto Asuque said the government had not been able to confirm the release of Tarongoy, a 31-year-old accountant from Davao City.

"We’re not confirming anything at this stage," Asuque said, adding that Al Jazeera appeared to have withdrawn the report from its website.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said they could not confirm Al Jazeera’s report, but that "there are people who have been working on this and we are coordinating with them."

Philippine charges d’affaires Ricardo Endaya is currently confirming reports of Tarongoy’s release. He said he will immediately contact the DFA "when he was in actual physical possession" of Tarongoy.

Asuque said Endaya is in Baghdad "speaking with our contacts in Iraq for any information" on Tarongoy’s whereabouts.

He noted that these contacts helped the Philippines secure the release of truck driver Angelo dela Cruz when he was held hostage by Iraqi militants last July.

On the other hand, Malacañang sources told The STAR yesterday that there were positive indications that Tarongoy was indeed safe and sound.

"In fact, there is already a prepared statement about (his release). But this will be triggered by the DFA’s official announcement," the sources said.

The Nepali man abducted with Tarongoy was released on Friday. Two of the Iraqis, who worked as guards, were released earlier this week.

Nepal’s foreign minister Prakash Sharan Mahat announced the release of Yunus Kawari, 27. He said Kawari’s Saudi employer assured him he was safe and had been taken to the airport.

All six men had worked for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Contracting Co., a Riyadh-based company that provided catering and foodstuffs to the Iraqi army and others.

There have been no claims of responsibility and no demands made for the remaining hostages’ release.

The government has refused to say whether it would negotiate with the abductors, despite fresh pressure from the US not to give in to militant demands.

Tarongoy is the first Filipino kidnapped in Iraq since the government bowed to militant threats to kill Dela Cruz and withdrew its small humanitarian force from the war-torn country.

His abduction revived fears about the safety of some 6,000 Filipinos working in Iraq, most of them as maintenance workers and cooks in military bases run by the United States.

More than 30 hostages have been killed by their captors in Iraq since a wave of kidnappings broke out in April that has seen about 150 foreigners seized.

The Philippines has announced a ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Iraq, but about 2,000 Filipinos have entered Iraq since the ban was imposed.

President Arroyo drew international criticism that Manila was encouraging terrorism when she agreed to pull the Philippine contingent out of Iraq to save the life of De la Cruz.

She said she had decided to put the interests of some eight million overseas Filipino workers ahead of solidarity with the US. After the withdrawal, some analysts said militants might next demand that Manila pull out its workers.

Meanwhile, the DFA said the government has undertaken several measures to strengthen the deployment ban on Iraq.

The DFA will reiterate its request for the interim Iraqi government and for all countries sharing borders with Iraq to bar the entry of Filipino travelers.

It has also instructed the Philippine embassy in Baghdad to identify companies in Iraq that employ Filipinos after the ban was imposed.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration will monitor and slap preventive suspensions on recruitment agencies found violating the deployment ban.

The Bureau of Immigration will check the papers of outgoing Filipino workers to make sure they do not go to Iraq. The BI will also work closely with the Presidential Anti-Illegal Recruitment Task Force.

Asuque said these measures were drawn up during an inter-agency meeting held Friday to stop the continued violation of the deployment ban on Iraq.

In a related development, a lawmaker opposed the US request for the Philippine government to give Washington a blanket authority to solve Tarongoy’s abduction.

Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco, House foreign affairs committee chairman, said the Philippine government cannot delegate its responsibility to protect the interest and safety of Filipinos.

"We have full trust and confidence in the Arroyo administration’s capability to handle the hostage crisis as it has proven before in the case of Dela Cruz, who was released alive by his abductors," he said.

Cuenco asked how Washington would handle the hostage crisis when it did not save the lives of its own citizens kidnapped in Iraq, standing pat on its policy of not negotiating with militants and terrorists.

He warned that the US should be careful in offering this type of assistance to the Philippines, since the gesture may be misconstrued as "meddling in other countries’ affairs."

Nayan still in limbo

The fate of junior Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan, who was abducted in Kabul, Afghanistan last Thursday, still hangs in the balance.

The Taliban-linked Jaish-al Muslimeen, a shadowy splinter group, had extended for the fourth time the deadline for its demands to be met. The new deadline passed last night without any word on the fate of Nayan and two other United Nations workers.

Rebel leader Akbar Agha has threatened to kill the three hostages if foreign troops and UN workers do not leave Afghanistan.

Agha reportedly hinted though that Nayan could be spared because the Philippines is not an aggressor in Afghanistan and has no troops there.

Nayan’s immediate family have been taken into custody by the DFA, while his friends and neighbors at Casimiro Townhomes, Las Piñas City continued their prayer vigil, which they said will last until he is safely home.

Nicole Daniel, president of the homeowners’ association, said she received a phone call from Ruby Caronan, Nayan’s older sister, thanking them for all their efforts.

Daniel has been leading the prayer vigil that started last Wednesday, when Nayan’s abductors set the second execution deadline. She also organized the city-wide motorcade urging Las Piñas residents to pray for Nayan’s safety.

Nayan’s family and neighbors were temporarily buoyed by reports that his abductors were thinking about sparing Nayan, but Daniel said it was too early to celebrate.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said while the Philippine government can help in securing Nayan’s release, this task still falls on the shoulders of the UN since it sent Nayan to Afghanistan on a mission to supervise the presidential elections held last Oct. 9.

"The best option is to leave the matter to the UN. We are not in a position to grant the demands of terrorists in Afghanistan," he said in yesterday’s weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel forum. — With Marichu Villanueva, Edu Punay, Mike Frialde, AFP