Aid sent to kin of 3 kidnapped OFWs in Libya

MANILA, Philippines — While waiting for the release of the three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) kidnapped in Libya, the government is providing financial assistance to the victims’ families in the Philippines.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will be giving the families of the three OFWs financial as well as scholarship and livelihood assistance.

Until yesterday, Bello said, the Philippine government has yet to receive any update on the negotiations being undertaken by the Libyan authorities for the release of the OFWs.

He said earlier that the Libyan government is still verifying the motive behind the kidnapping.

Last July 9, three Filipino engineers and a South Korean were taken from the Korean-owned water facility in Libya. 

“I have instructed OWWA to get in touch with the agency that deployed the three OFWs so they could continue providing the monthly salaries. In the meantime, OWWA is already giving them financial help,” Bello said.

He said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is also hiring one of the children of the OFWs who is a graduate of information technology course and civil service eligible.

Bello said he met with the wives of the three OFWs and assured them that the government is exerting all efforts to secure the safe rescue or release of their loved ones.

According to Bello, the DOLE is coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the presidential adviser on OFWs in negotiating the release of the three OFWs.

“We are just waiting for the DFA to call a meeting in order for us to coordinate our actions for the release of the three OFWs,” Bello disclosed.