Remains of 4 Filipino Oil Workers Kidnapped and Later Executed by ISIS in Libya 6 Years Ago Finally Located 

Authorities in the eastern Libyan city of Derna accompany Chargé d’Affaires and Head of Mission Elmer G. Cato of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli to the site where they buried the four Filipinos and their Austrian and Czech coworkers who were kidnapped and later executed by Islamic State (ISIS) militants six years ago. The remains of the six oil workers were buried in a local cemetery that was visited by Embassy officials on Monday. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Anabelle Belting)

BENGHAZI 02 March 2021 – With the help of Libyan authorities, the remains of four Filipino oil workers who were kidnapped,  forcibly taken along with two coworkers from Austria and the Czech Republic by ISIS militants who attacked the Ghani Oil Field in southern Libya on 06 March 2015, and later executed by Islamic State (ISIS) extremists in Libya six years ago have finally been located in a cemetery in the eastern coastal city of Derna on Monday. 

Philippine Embassy in Tripoli Chargé d’Affaires and Head of Mission Elmer G. Cato said nothing much had been heard from the kidnapped foreign oil workers until two years later when a video showing their execution was found in a laptop seized from slain ISIS fighters in Derna. The six, who were employed by the Austrian contractor Value Added Oil Services (VAOS), had since been presumed dead although their bodies were never recovered. 

Sometime in 2018, Chargé d’Affaires Cato said the Embassy was informed that the remains of the four missing Filipinos could be among those that have been recovered by the Libyan Red Crescent Society in various parts of Derna and later buried there. 

However, due to the unstable security situation, the Embassy was not able to send a team to Derna to search for the four Filipinos. It was only in October that Embassy officials were able to travel to Benghazi and request the assistance of authorities in finding the four. 

On 01 March, the Libyan military authorities led Embassy officials to the Dahr Ahmar Islamic Cemetery 10 kilometers from Derna, where they said Donato Santiago, Gregorio Titan, Roldan Blaza, and Wilson Eligue were buried after their bodies were recovered six years ago.

Charge d’Affaires Cato said the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs (OMWA) has conveyed the latest development to the families in the Philippines of the four Filipinos and will make arrangements for forensics experts to assist in identifying the remains and bringing them home. 

“After six long years, the families of our four kababayans will finally find closure,” Charge d’Affaires Cato said. “We are indebted to our Libyan friends for making this possible.” END

Chargé d’Affaires and Head of Mission Elmer G. Cato of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli expresses his appreciation to an official of the Libyan Red Crescent in the eastern city of Derna for recovering and burying the remains of four Filipino oil workers who were kidnapped and later executed by Islamic State (ISIS) militants six years ago. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Anabelle Belting)

Authorities in the eastern Libyan city of Derna point to the site where they buried four Filipinos and their Austrian and Czech coworkers who were kidnapped and later executed by Islamic State (ISIS) militants six years ago. The remains of the six oil workers were buried in a local cemetery that was visited on Monday by Chargé d’Affaires and Head of Mission Elmer G. Cato of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Anabelle Belting)

Libyan military authorities explain to officials of the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli how they found the remains of four Filipino oil workers who were abducted and later executed by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Derna in eastern Libya six years ago. The remains of the four were buried in a local cemetery that was visited on 01 March 2021 by Chargé d’Affaires and Head of Mission Elmer G. Cato. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Anabelle Belting)

For more information, visit https://www.tripolipe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinLibya/.