Second Filipino freed from Hamas captivity

MANILA, Philippines —  A second Filipino national was released from captivity in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. announced Wednesday. 

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Marcos said that Noralyn Babadilla “is safely back in Israel.”

“With this positive development, I am pleased to inform the nation that all Filipinos affected by the war have been accounted for,” the president said. 

The release of the 60-year-old dual national came a few days after Jimmy Pacheco, a 33-year-old caregiver, was freed under a truce deal between Hamas and Israel. 

Babadilla was abducted in Nirim, a kibbutz in southern Israel, where she was visiting friends on October 7 along with her partner who was killed in the surprise assault by Hamas militants. 

Four Filipinos were killed in the war between Israel and Hamas. 

Marcos expressed gratitude to the governments of Egypt and Qatar for their “crucial role in this process over the past several weeks.”

Eighty-six people out of around 240 people taken to Gaza have been freed under the terms of an extended truce and hostage-for-prisoner swap deal. The release in Gaza was followed by the freeing of 30 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. 

About 1,200 people were killed when Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack on Israel. 

The Jewish state responded with an air, artillery and naval assault alongside a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 15,000 people. The majority of casualties were civilians, with thousands of them being children. — with report from Agence France-Presse