Revelry erupts in Philippines as hostage is freed in Iraq

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2004

BUENAVISTA, Philippines (AFP) — Revelry and tears greeted news of a Filipino hostage's release in his hometown and across the Philippines as President Gloria Arroyo defended her decision to strike a deal with his kidnappers.

Truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was freed unharmed near the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad earlier Tuesday, a day after the last of the 51-member Filipino military contingent left Iraq.

At de la Cruz's bamboo-thatched home in Buenavista village, north of Manila, a crowd of relatives and neighbors exploded in jubilation as the news aired on local television, with many of them chanting, "long live Gloria."

His wife, Arsenia, who is waiting for him in nearby Jordan, said she had spoken with her husband and that they would be...