MANILA, Philippines, Sept 20, (AP): Two Filipino maids employed by ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s relative fled the household and were evacuated by their embassy in Tripoli, the Philippine government said Tuesday.
Philippine Ambassador Alejandrino Vicente said the maids escaped the residence Monday morning and were met by an embassy team waiting for them in two cars. They did not bring any belongings with them and were immediately brought across the border to Tunisia.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said Vicente told him that two other maids working for another of Gaddafi’s relatives did not fear for their safety and chose to stay in Libya. Neither relative was identified.
He said he did not have details on the two maids who escaped, identified as Diana Jill Rivera and Mary Ann Ducos. The Foreign Affairs Department reported last month it was aware of their condition and was trying to get them out but could not because of fighting. Tripoli fell to the rebels Aug 21.
“Even before, I think there was an idea where they were. I don’t want to speculate why but always the consideration is their security,” Hernandez told The Associated Press.
“In August, what we said was they were in a location where at that time it was not opportune for them to leave.”
He said the other two were staying within the same area but in a different household.
Hernandez said the Philippine government was pushing for the maids’ evacuation in talks with the former leadership and the new opposition-led government, which Manila recognized only last month after initial reluctance because of concerns for safety of other Filipino workers still in Libya.
There have been no casualties among about 1,700 Filipinos, mostly nurses, working in Libya.
Hernandez said Rivera and Ducos were expected to be back in Manila within a week.