President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday that he was may send two frigates to Libya following the abduction of three Filipino engineers and a South Korean national.

In a speech in Bukidnon, Duterte confirmed that three Filipinos, along with a South Korean, were seized in Libya.

"I think there are three Filipinos (who were) kidnapped in the waters of the Middle East, also Korean," he said.

He said South Korea has deployed a warship in Libya.

"You know, I am not joking. I will deploy also. If they begin to hurt the Filipinos there, the three, I will send a frigate. I will really do," he said, adding, "you send two," while talking to former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff now Department of Interior and Local Government OIC-Secretary Eduardo Ano, who was in Bukidnon.

He said he would make a final decision after his command conference with security officials and Cabinet meeting on Tuesday next week.

Duterte said the abductors should not have taken the Filipinos as they were just working.

Reports said the three Filipinos and the South Korean national were seized on a water project site in Libya on July 6.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction. Celerina Monte/DMS