DFA hopeful 2 Filipinos held hostage by Hamas will be released soon

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is hoping that the two Filipinos possibly held hostage by Hamas militants will be freed soon, following the deal with Israel and the Palestinian group for a truce. 

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said Wednesday that two Filipino nationals are possibly among the captives of Hamas—one is a woman who has a dual citizenship and the other is a man who was seen by his wife taken by Hamas members in a video. 

“Alam ng Israel na inaasahan natin na as soon as possible, makasama na ang Filipino citizens sa unang mare-release. Pero ang priority nila ang mga Israeli na bata at saka mga nanay nila,” De Vega said in an Unang Balita interview. 

(Israel knows that we expect the Filipino citizens to be among the first to be released as soon as possible, but their priority is Israeli children and then their mothers.) 

Despite this, De Vega considered the deal between Israel and Hamas for a truce as a “good sign.”

“Malalaman natin before the end of the day today, Philippine time, kung tuloy ang deal. It will happen within the next few days na a few hostages per day [ang mare-release]. Tignan natin. Sana, asahan natin, na tuloy tuloy na po,” he added. 

(We will know before the end of the day today, in Philippine time, if the deal goes through. What will happen within the next few days is that a few hostages will be released per day. Let's see. Hopefully, let's expect that this will continue.) 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel's government voted on Wednesday to back a deal for Hamas to free 50 women and children held as hostages in Gaza in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting.

The accord will see the first truce of a war in which Israeli bombardments have flattened swathes of Hamas-ruled Gaza, killed 13,300 civilians in the tiny densely populated enclave and left about two-thirds of its 2.3 million people homeless, according to authorities in Gaza.

More than half of the estimated 220 hostages held by Palestinian group Hamas have foreign passports from 25 different countries, including two Filipinos, according to figures from the Israeli government. —Giselle Ombay/ VAL, GMA Integrated News