Duterte sends secretaries, not frigates, to help OFWs abducted in Libya

Pia Ranada

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Duterte sends secretaries, not frigates, to help OFWs abducted in Libya

Robinson Ninal

An all-Cabinet member team is tasked to work with the Libyan government to secure the kidnapped Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte decided last night to send members of his Cabinet to Libya to help secure the release of two Filipinos abducted by an armed group.

“We have formed a high-level all-Cabinet member team to deal with the Libyan government and help in the effort to recover two of our countrymen who were kidnapped,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque on Tuesday, August 7.

Duterte gave these instructions during the 28th Cabinet meeting on Monday, August 6.

Roque said the President was dissuaded from pushing through with his earlier declaration – that he would send two frigates as a show of force, copying an earlier move by South Korea. A South Korean national was kidnapped along with the Filipinos.

Sending frigates was the “initial course of action” but Duterte “has since considered the advice of the Cabinet first,” said Roque.

Roque said the Cabinet discussed that “it would be more prudent to work with the Libyan government to see what the demands are.”

Among the Cabinet members in the team are Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Abdullah Mama-O, and Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Dangcal Alonto.

Duterte began the Cabinet meeting enraged about the kidnapping, said a source present at the meeting. – Rappler.com

 

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Pia Ranada

Pia Ranada is Rappler’s Community Lead, in charge of linking our journalism with communities for impact.