Filipino maids of Gadhafi nephew arriving today

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said two overseas Filipino workers who had served as maids for Sharif Sahal, a nephew of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, and who had been safely rescued by Labor Attache to Libya Nasser S. Mustafa, will arrive on Saturday afternoon following a long trip from Tripoli to Tunisia to the Philippines.

The two OFWs, Diana Jill Rivera, 30, and Mary Ann Ducos Almario, 29, were scheduled to arrive together with Mustafa at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) at around 4:30 p.m.

Rivera is from Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, while Almario is from San Agustin, Isabela.

“I am pleased that they are safe and will soon be reunited with their families,” Baldoz said in a statement.

The secretary said Mustafa rescued the two maids on Sept. 19, near the house of their employer in Tarik Matar in Tripoli, some 30 kilometers from the city center.

From Naia, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (Owwa), which paid for the repatriation tickets of the two, was to will bring Rivera and Almario to the Owwa central office where they would be united with their families.

A press conference will be held to be presided by Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz and Owwa Administrator Carmelita Dimzon.

“Like all the other Libyan repatriates, the Department of Labor and Employment will provide Rivera and Almario a cash incentive of P10,000 each,” Baldoz said.