MISSING PINOY IN SAUDI NOT KIDNAPPED
MANILA, January 25, 2005 (STAR) By Marvin Sy - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) belied yesterday reports that a Filipino worker missing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had been abducted.DFA spokesman Gilberto Asuque said the DFA has spoken with the family of Suelito Casal Leong, who had gone missing since Jan. 11 after running an errand for his employer.
Quoting Leong’s wife, Amalia, Asuque said she never claimed that her husband was abducted. She said she was merely appealing for help in locating him.
Amalia pins her hopes on the government as she patiently awaits word on her spouse’s condition.
"I am still hopeful and I trust God my husband is still alive," Amalia told The STAR.
Asuque said the DFA has also been in touch with Leong’s employer, Detecon Al Saudia Co. Ltd. (DETASAD), a telecommunications company based in Riyadh.
Leong, a 40-year-old native of Pamplona, Negros Oriental, has been working as a power technician for DETASAD for the past eight years. His disappearance raised fears of another kidnapping case of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) as the Philippine government has yet to make progress on the release of Roberto Tarongoy, an OFW abducted by militants in Iraq last November.
Malacañang meanwhile urged the public "to avoid speculations" at this point while the DFA is taking steps to find Leong.
"Official reports will be released as needed," said Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye.
"The DFA is already coordinating with the Saudi authorities to determine the whereabouts of our worker reported missing in Riyadh," he said.
Based on the report of the Philippine embassy in Riyadh, Leong was dispatched on a work-related assignment on the morning of Jan. 11 but failed to return. The following day, DETASAD immediately wrote the Al Hamra district police to report their missing employee and to seek assistance in finding him.
In response, the Riyadh region police issued a notice on the missing Leong and directed the police to undertake a search.
As of yesterday, Leong along with the Toyota Corolla he was driving when he left has yet to be located.
Asuque said the embassy in Riyadh has been in close coordination with the Filipino community in the kingdom as part of efforts to find Leong.
He said the embassy has not received any substantial information from the initial reports submitted by the police and various local hospitals.
Leong’s wife and family, who are based in Digos City in Davao, initially broke the news of her husband’s disappearance in an interview with the radio affiliate of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. Amalia has also approached the DFA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) for help.
OWWA Southern Mindanao chief Zenovia Caro confirmed yesterday that Leong was missing. — With Marichu Villanueva, Edith Regalado
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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