DFA orders embassy in Tripoli to “extend all the necessary assistance” to 20 Filipinos detained in Libya

August 29, 2017

Libyan authorities on Sunday seized a Liberian-flagged tanker with a crew of 20 Filipinos on suspicion of  smuggling oil off the Abu Kammash area west of Tripoli, news reports said. In a statement  Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it has "instructed our embassy in Tripoli to closely monitor the situation." DFA spokesman Robespierre Bolivar said the embassy has been ordered to "extend all the necessary assistance to our countrymen." Bolivar said the DFA will issue more updates as soon the full effort from the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli is received. DMS