108 Filipino seafarers still held hostage by Somali pirates
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/28/2008 10:57 PM
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More than a hundred Filipino seafarers are still in the hands of Somali pirates, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.
"As of today, we have 108 Filipino seamen on board seven ships who are still held hostage in Somalia," said Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr.
Conejos told ANC’s Prime News that since April this year up to the last incident in November 21, a total of 208 Filipinos on 17 ships have been held hostage. "With this latest release now, a total of 100 Filipino seamen have been released on board 10 ships," he said.
Also Friday, Conejos announced the release of the Greek-owned freighter M/V Centauri Thursday night. The vessel, which was seized by Somali pirates on September 17, was manned by 26 Filipino seafarers.
"They are expected to arrive in Mombasa on December 3 and I think shortly after that they will be flown back to Manila," Conejos said.
In an earlier text message to media, Conejos said the freed Pinoy seafarers are all in good condition.
"They are safe. In fact I think now they are on their way to Mombasa," said Conejos, adding that they have not received any report that the seafarers were harmed during their captivity.
The DFA official said that they have no information yet if another release is going to happen soon.
Meanwhile, Conejos said the DFA is not imposing a ban on Filipino seafarers from traveling the dangerous waters in Somalia.
"The reason for that is that their contract is different from land-based workers. Unlike land-based workers which are limited to specific areas, in the case of seamen they only indicate the port of embarkation and disembarkation," he explained.
The DFA has been advising Filipino seafarers and their local manning agents to stick to the security lane in the Gulf of Aden to avoid being exposed to pirates.
However, Conejos admitted that there is no assurance that seamen will not be exposed to dangers once they stick to the safe lane.
"The only thing that we can say at this point is that we have amended their contracts so they have the option to go down the ship before they proceed to the Gulf of Aden," he said.
"The other thing that the POEA [Philippine Overseas Employment Administration] has done is to also amend their contracts that if they decide to go ahead to dangerous waters, they should be able to get some kind of a hazard pay, double their pay," he added.
