Rody forms task force to resolve Libya hostage crisis

President Duterte has heeded the advice of his Cabinet team to form a task force to coordinate with the Libyan government all efforts to rescue the three Filipino engineers kidnapped last month.

The task force will be headed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

“(The) status right now is that we have formed a highlevel all-Cabinet member team to deal with the Libyan government and help in the effort to recover three of our countrymen who were kidnapped together with a South Korean national,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.

Duterte last week said he would send frigates to Libya once the abducted Filipinos are hurt by their captors.

Duterte’s plan to send frigates following South Korea’s move was put on hold, according to Roque.

He said the President has expressed regret over the manner by which the three Filipinos were kidnapped in Libya.

“Of course, he has stated previously that he was thinking of sending frigates together with the Koreans, to at least send the message that the President takes the plight of OFWs very seriously,” Roque said.

For now, only Cabinet members will be sent for negotiations with the Libyan government to coordinate rescue efforts.

Apart from Bello and Cayetano, the President also tapped presidential adviser on OFW Affairs and Muslim Concerns Abdullah Mamao and Mindanao Development Authority secretary Abul Khayr Alonto to be part of the high-level delegation.

“But he has since considered the advice of the Cabinet to first form a task force headed by the foreign secretary and composed of Muslim members of the Cabinet including Secretaries Mamao, Alonto and even Labor Secretary Bello to deal with the hostage crisis in Libya,” Roque said.

Mamao and Bello were instrumental in hammering out a deal to uplift the working environment for Filipino domestic helpers in Kuwait earlier this year.