MANILA: Nine Filipino seafarers were held hostage by Yemen’s Houthi rebels — along with the remains of their fellow mariner — are now finally home just in time for Christmas.
The seafarers’ flight landed in Manila at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 at around 9.30pm Thursday (Dec 4).
They were accompanied by Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac, who made the announcement earlier in the day through a speech delivered by his wife, Ruby Albarez, during the Traditional University Award for Government Service at Ateneo de Manila University.
The seafarers and Cacdac took the flight back home from Muscat in Oman, where they had been transferred from Sana’a in Yemen.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was informed by authorities of the Sultanate of Oman regarding the matter.
“The release was the outcome of efforts of Oman, in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro personally discussed the plight of the Filipinos with her Omani counterpart, Foreign Minister Sayed Badr bin Hamad El-Busaidi, during a bilateral meeting in July, and again raised the matter during a phone call in November,” the DFA said.
According to an earlier report, MV Eternity C sank in the Red Sea last July 7 after repeated attacks from Yemen-based Houthi militants using sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades.
The bulk carrier was sailing under the flag of Liberia, carrying 22 crew members, 21 of whom are Filipinos.
The Philippine government previously barred Filipino seafarers from boarding vessels passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The Department of Migrant Workers particularly required manning agencies to submit a written guarantee that passenger or cruise vessels with Filipino crew members will not traverse the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which have been designated as “war-like zones.” - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
