Arya News - With this new batch of seafarers arriving back home, all surviving seafarers from MV Eternity C, which sank in the Red Sea last July 7, are now reunited with their families.
MANILA – Nine Filipino seafarers, held hostage by Yemen’s Houthi rebels along with the remains of a fellow mariner, are finally home in time for Christmas.
The seafarers’ flight landed in Manila at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
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.
In a press conference, Cacdac said the seafarers have been given a round of financial assistance upon their arrival in the country, with counseling and medical assistance readily available to them.
Cacdac said the government will also process the documents the seafarers lost in the ship, particularly their documents and government IDs through a one-stop-shop with relevant agencies.
“There’s nothing more we want tonight than to watch them reunite with their families. The hugs and the kisses and the tears of joy, talagang priceless ‘yan (those are priceless),” said Cacdac.
“Today is a day na talagang sarap maging kawani ng pamahalaan to witness all these,” he added.
(Today is truly a day when it feels great to be a government worker, getting to witness all of this.)
READ: 9 Filipino seafarers held by Houthis to return home Thursday
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.
With this new batch of seafarers arriving back home, all surviving seafarers in MV Eternity C are now reunited with their families.
“Hopefully this will be the last and we have the necessary policies in place. We suspended the necessary entities dahil walang reporting ng pagdaan sa Red Sea. And hopefully may deterrent factor ‘yung ating disciplinary regulatory authority,” said Cacdac.
(Hopefully this will be the last, and that we now have the necessary policies in place. We have suspended the concerned entities because they failed to report their transit through the Red Sea. And hopefully, our disciplinary regulatory authority will serve as a deterrent.)
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.”
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