PH working with foreign gov'ts to secure release of 17 Pinoys in Red Sea —DMW

The Philippines is coordinating with foreign governments to secure the release of 17 Filipino seafarers who are among the hostages in the cargo ship seized by Yemeni rebel group Houthi in the Red Sea, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Monday.

“Mayroon nang koordinasyon sa mga foreign government na makakatulong dito sa ligtas na pagpapauwi ng ating tripulante dito sa Galaxy Leader,” DMW officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac told Unang Balita.

(There is coordination already with foreign governments that may help secure the release of the Filipino crew in Galaxy Leader.)

“Kaya sa ngayon, ongoing ang effort na ito na maligtas at maiuwi nang ligtas iyong ating mga seafarers dito sa Galaxy Leader. And again maselan ang sitwasyon,” he added.

(Currently, efforts are ongoing to rescue and repatriate safely our seafarers in Galaxy Leader. Again, the situation is delicate.)

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said the 17 Pinoys held hostage are "fine".

“The good news is that we do know that our seafarers are fine and that the Houthi rebels have been indicating consistently that they do not intend to harm them,” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said.

De Vega pointed out that there have been instances before that Filipino seafarers were taken to Yemen and all of them were eventually released.

According to him, the Houthi rebels were saying that they will continue to hold the supposed Israeli-owned ship as long as Israel keeps on occupying and attacking Gaza.

With the four-day truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas which started on Friday, De Vega said the Philippine government is optimistic that it will also lead to the release of the hostages in the ship.

The DFA last week said 17 Pinoy seafarers were among the foreigners held hostage by Houthis when the latter seized the cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has instructed the DFA to do everything to ensure the safety of the Filipinos held hostage in the Red Sea.

The Houthis, an ally of Iran, have been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes toward Israel in solidarity with the Hamas militants fighting in the Gaza Strip. —KG, GMA Integrated News