MANILA, Philippines - Two Filipino maids employed by the nephew of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi were taken into custody on Monday by the Philippine embassy in Tripoli, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
Household workers Diana Jill Rivera and Mary Ann Ducos slipped out of the Gadhafi residence to meet with the embassy team who waited in two cars near the house. They left the residence without any belongings.
DFA spokesperson said Ambassador to Tripoli Alejandrino Vicente had called the DFA in Manila on Monday to report the accomplishment of the operation headed by labor attaché Nasser Mustafa.
It was unclear in the report, however, where the rescue was carried out.
The two workers are now staying in Tunisia, awaiting their flights back to Manila. They are expected to be able to come home within the week.
The families of Rivera and Ducos had asked the Philippine government’s assistance in the repatriation of the two workers at the height of the political crisis in Libya.
Two other Filipino domestic workers -Zenaida Labugen and Racquel Dadang -employed in the household of another Gadhafi relative, had also been contacted by the embassy for repatriation but expressed no intention to go home.
The Philippine government had asked their employers to let them come home on compassionate grounds because their families are worried about their safety. One of the family members of the Gadhafi clan said they are safe and have not expressed desire to be repatriated.
In March, the Philippines received reports that four Filipino maids working for Gadhafi’s relatives were asking to be allowed to go home but their employers refused to grant their request.
As of late August, around 1,600 Filipinos were believed to be still working in Libya, many of them nurses engaged in the treatment of those injured in the months of uprising against Gadhafi.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said it will determine the kind of assistance to be provided to the two rescued workers.
“We have to study their profile and then determine what they need. We’ll coordinate with agencies concerned because as of now, we don’t have their names yet,” said OWWA administrator Carmelita Dimzon. – With Sheila Crisostomo