DFA: Two maids of Gaddafi kin flee from employers

UPDATED 2:30 p.m. - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday two of the four maids of the family of a nephew of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have escaped from their employers. The DFA said Diana Jill Rivera and Mary Ann Ducos are now under the custody of Philippine officials headed by Ambassador Alejandrino Vicente of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli. In a statement, DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said the two women were rescued by Philippine authorities headed by Vicente. Hernandez said the maids were working in an area occupied by guards and soldiers. "But this time the report is they were able to leave the residence and join the embassy team," he said. He added that they will find out later how exactly the maids were able to escape. "Their families, concerned over the safety especially at the height of the political crisis in Libya, asked the Philippine government’s assistance in their rescue and repatriation," Hernandez said. Hernandez said the two other household helpers of the Gaddafi kin — Zenaida Labugen and Racquel Dadang — "have not expressed a desire to be repatriated." Hernandez said the two are now working with another household, also a relative of the former leader. "They do not fear for their safety and are also in contact with the embassy," he said. Back in Manila soon Meanwhile, Hernandez said Rivera and Ducos "should be able to return to Manila within the week." He related that the two women "met up with an Embassy team that waited in two cars near the residence where they worked." The women "left the residence without bringing with them any of their belongings," Hernandez said. He said the fact that the maids left without their belongings implies that they escaped from their employer. "But we don’t want to speculate and we hope to get another report to clarify the other things that we said here. We will soon give you the exact place where they were rescued from," he added. The team brought the two women to Tunisia where they are now waiting for their bookings for their trip to Manila. Meanwhile, in an interview over radio dzBB, Hernandez said, "Nailigtas natin ang dalawang Pilipina na nagtatrabaho sa nephew ng deposed Libyan leader Gaddafi. Kahapon na umaga ito. Ngayon nasa Tunisia sila, just waiting for their booking for the trip back to Manila." Part of talks between PHL, Libya leaders Hernandez said the case of the four household workers were part of the talks between the highest officials of the Libyan foreign affairs and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Undersecretary Rafael Seguis. "The Philippine officials asked for the workers release from their employers on compassionate grounds as their respective families were worried over their safety," Hernandez said. The breakthough came only after the embassy team have made several visits around the residence of the maids' employer, Hernandez explained. The country's Ambassador to Libya "credits the successful operation through the embassy team led by attaché Nasser Mustafa," he said. Restoration of law and order Also in the radio dzBB interview, Hernandez said the Philippine embassy in Libya said the restoration of law and order in Libya is going "very well." "They are expecting that law and order would be restored soon especially in Tripoli," he said. Hernandez said food, water, electricity, and even gasoline are being restored. "It's normalizing now pero may resistance," he said. Earlier this month, the DFA said the alert level in Libya remains at "4" amid reports that the situation is returning to "normal" as new interim leaders took over with the downfall of Gaddafi, who led the country for 42 years. Under Alert Level 4, the Philippine government is adopting the mandatory evacuation and repatriation of Filipinos from Libya. On Monday, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) warned the public against illegal recruiters who are promising jobs in Afghanistan and Iraq where deployment bans are still in place. POEA Administrator Carlos Cao, Jr. said, “Illegal recruiters saying otherwise must not be believed and must be reported to POEA and other law enforcement authorities for legal action." Last strongholds of Gaddafi According to a report of Reuters, Libya's interim government said its forces seized one of the last strongholds of forces loyal to Gaddafi — the airport and fort in Sabha. "Our forces are there in the airport and in the castle... Our flags are flying there," Ahmed Bani, a military spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC), said on Monday. It was not possible to get independent confirmation. Sabha, 770 km (480 miles) south of Tripoli and overlooked by an old fort built by Libya's former Italian colonial rulers, controls the main trail south to neighboring Niger, an escape route used by members of Gaddafi's entourage. Any advance on the town would be an important boost for government forces who have struggled to contain disunity in their ranks and faced stark reversals on other parts of the battlefield. Nearly a month after Gaddafi was driven from power, his loyalist holdouts have beaten back repeated assaults by NTC forces at Bani Walid and Sirte, Gaddafi's birthplace. NTC fighters have been sent fleeing in disarray after failing to storm Gaddafi bastions.- with a report from Reuters, RJMD/VVP, GMA News