DFA: Marcos to discuss ensuring Filipino seafarers’ safety with Germany

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is expected to bring up in his working visit to Germany how the European country could help ensure the welfare of Filipino seafarers, following the fatal attack of Houthi rebel group on a merchant ship, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. 

Marcos, who is currently in Berlin to enhance the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Germany, is set to meet with Chancellor Scholz where several agreements will be signed, including the Joint Declaration of Intent on Strengthening Maritime Cooperation.

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said the President will “absolutely” discuss with Germany how it could give the “highest protection” to Filipino seafarers. 

“We’re not going to tell Germany what to do, obviously. We’re not going to tell them to join the coalition or what. But we do expect, and they will, ensure that for ships bound for Germany or German-flagged vessels, they will give the highest protection to our seafarers,” the DFA official said during a Palace briefing. 

“And also with the situation where the Red Sea is concerned, of course they will readily voice to join the calls for an end to the current attacks and the release of our seafarers,” he added. 

De Vega said that the public should await Germany’s statement after the meeting with Marcos. 

“We’re sure it’s going to be very successful,” he said.

In light of the recent missile attack of the Houthis which killed two Filipinos onboard the ship True Confidence which was traversing the Gulf of Aden, De Vega also expressed hope that the Magna Carta for Seafarers will be signed into law as soon as possible.

However, he stressed that the DFA acknowledges the need for the executive and legislative branches to thoroughly review the bill. 

“I believe that any law which will improve the lot of seafarers should be signed as soon as possible, but we fully respect the President and the legislators’ desire to improve the bill as it is. But certainly, we’d like to see a law passed,” De Vega said.

“But not so soon that they forgot whatever they wanted to fix in the first place. Pero sana, mapasa right away [but I hope it gets enacted right away],” he continued. 

In September last year, Marcos certified the Magna Carta for Seafarers as urgent “in order to address recurring deficiencies in our domestic laws pertaining to the training and accreditation of thousands of Filipino seafarers which endanger their employment in the European market in particular, and the global maritime arena in general.”

Currently, the proposed bill is still pending Marcos’ signature three months after the Congress ratified the bicameral conference committee report.

‘Miracles happen’

De Vega also said that government authorities are presuming that the two Filipino seafarers who were not able to escape the missile-hit ship were already dead, but also said that miracles might still happen to them.

“The difficulty in identifying would be the fact that we hope, well, hopefully they were burnt beyond recognition. Kasi noong nag-abandon ship ‘yung mga seafarers, sabi nila ‘yung dalawa kasi, tatlo actually, may isang Vietnamese, naipit sa lugar na nasusunog,” he said.

(When the ship was abandoned, the seafarers said there were three who were stuck in the place that was burning.)

“Of course, miracles still happen. We never know they might have escaped or what but we were going by the presumption that they perished,” he continued.

As to the survivors, he reported that the DFA has already provided them the first tranche of financial assistance worth US $1,000.

Eleven of them are scheduled to arrive in the Philippines on Tuesday night, coming all the way from Djibouti.

Two Filipino seafarers still remain in the hospital, but are also expected to be repatriated later this week via special air ambulance.

“They are recovering, although their injuries were grave—an ordinary seaman who suffered severe facial burns, and the cook had to have his leg amputated,” de Vega said.

The DFA official also said that the Yemeni coast has been tagged by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) since February 16 as one of the “war-like and high-risk areas” for Filipino seafarers.

Under such classification, the seafarers have to be given the right to refuse sailing with repatriation at the cost of the company. They also have to be given compensation equal to two months of their basic wage.

If they decide to continue with the journey, the seafarers have to receive a bonus equivalent to their basic wage or double compensation.—AOL, GMA Integrated News