Five Filipinos were kidnapped by armed men in two separate incidents in Libya and Iraq.
On Friday morning, three Filipino technicians in Libya were kidnapped by unidentified armed men from a waterworks project site around 500 kilometers from Tripoli, Libya, ABS-CBN News reported.
On the same day in Iraq, two Filipino women who were traveling to Baghdad were kidnapped in the Uzem District south of Kirkuk.
Media reports did not disclose the identities of the victims.
On Sunday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it had requested assistance from the authorities in Iraq and Libya to secure the release of the five Filipinos.
Foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano confirmed on Monday that the two Filipinas who were kidnapped in Iraq had escaped their captors and were rescued by the police. They are now under police protection in Diyala Province.
“Their safe recovery would not have been possible without the swift response of our Iraqi friends and for that we are very grateful,” Cayetano said in a statement.