Remains of beheaded OFW arrive in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - The remains of the Filipino construction worker who was beheaded in Benghazi, Libya last July arrived in Manila late Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

Antonio Espares’ remains arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

Espares was kidnapped and killed by suspected militants in Benghazi. His beheaded remains were found in a hospital on July 20.

According to the DFA, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration has extended assistance such as scholarship for the child of Espares.

A Filipino nurse was also kidnapped and raped in Tripoli, Libya in July.

The DFA raised Crisis Alert Level 4 on Libya last July 20, placing a total deployment ban on the North African country and calling for the mandatory repatriation of all overseas Filipino workers.

The DFA said 2,727 Filipinos have been repatriated from Libya so far. Around 13,000 Filipinos were working in Libya last year, based on government data.