President Duterte has decided to send a group of Cabinet members instead of government warships to help secure the safe release of Filipino workers kidnapped in Libya.
The President has formed a high-level task force led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano to work with the Libyan government in dealing with the hostage crisis, according to Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.
The government team includes Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) concerns Abdullah Mamao, and Mindanao Development Authority Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto.
“We have formed a high-level all cabinet member team to deal with Libyan government and help in effort to recover two of our countrymen who were kidnapped together with a South Korean national,” Roque said during a Palace press briefing.
The President earlier said he was considering the deployment of one or two Philippine Navy frigates to Libya to secure the release of Filipinos taken hostage there. Duterte however said he wanted to consult the cabinet and other security officials before resorting to the dispatch of a rescue ship.