Pinoy in Libya risks life to protect Spanish envoy's home

Out of loyalty, a Filipino butler guarded the residence of the Spanish envoy in Tripoli even after all its occupants fled amid the violence in Libya. According to the Spanish news site "ABC Internacional," Rogelio de los Reyes was one of more than 2,000 Filipinos who remained in Libya despite the chaos and violence in the North African state. Instead of heeding the Philippine government's call to all Filipinos to leave Libya, De los Reyes remained there to guard from thieves and looters the Spanish envoy's residence where he had been serving in the last six years. The house was evacuated by the Spanish Ambassador and the Spanish Embassy was shut down in March when the Libyan revolution against former leader Muammar Gaddafi heated up. De los Reyes said only a cat named Cuscus kept him company during the time he had been guarding the estate for nearly six months. De los Reyes told ABC, “I promised that I would stay and take care of the house. It was my obligation." The Philippine Embassy in Madrid provided the media a copy of the English translation of the article. Dealing with looters De los Reyes recalled that his most fearful experience was when 15 armed men stormed into the envoy's property and took three of the six cars parked inside the compound. He told ABC that he did not fight back but merely observed the intruders through security cameras. When the armed men left, he went outside the compound but was greeted with gunshots. “People were shooting in all directions," De los Reyes said. "A group of rebels calmed me down and I told them about the robbery." With the rebels' help, two of the three cars were returned within an hour. The third car was found abandoned on the street. De los Reyes said it took him five days to find a crane to pull the car back to the Spanish envoy's residence. At the height of the armed conflict in Tripoli, De los Reyes said some rebels promised to protect him and the house from attackers. Back to normal Spain reopened its embassy two weeks ago after democracy fighters seized control of Libya and ended Gaddafi's more than four-decade rule. De los Reyes has resumed already his normal routine at the Spanish envoy's residence. He now serves Spain’s newly-appointed ambassador to Libya, Jose Riera, the third envoy he is working for. Meanwhile, the exact whereabouts of Gaddafi and his family members remain unknown. - VVP, GMA News