From Fox News:

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Pleading for the life of a truck driver held hostage in Iraq, Philippine Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Rafael Seguis said the country would withdraw its troops “as soon as possible.”

Seguis’ appeal to the group holding Angelo dela Cruz was aired on Arab-language television network Al-Jazeera on Tuesday. But he did not elaborate on whether the Philippines would move up their scheduled Aug. 20 pullout from Iraq.

It is unclear if dela Cruz is still alive. The militant group, the Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin Al-Waleed Corps, had initially said they would kill the hostage by Sunday if the Philippines did not agree to pull out its 51-member peacekeeping force one month earlier than planned. Earlier on Monday, the Philippines announced that the kidnappers had extended their deadline to 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday.

But in a videotape and statement broadcast by Al-Jazeera, the group said it was only extending the deadline to 3 p.m. EDT Monday.

In the videotape, dela Cruz, while pleading to be spared, also asked that his body be sent to the Philippines for burial should he be killed.

One life might be saved as a result of the Phillipines caving in to terrorists. But to paraphrase Baldilocks (whom the above link is credited to), How many more lives will be lost in the future as a result of the withdrawal?