MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Magandang umaga, Malacañang Press Corps, and welcome sa ating press briefing ngayong araw, March 12.

On March 6, Houthi rebels mounted their first fatal attack since the crisis started last year. They attacked MV True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged ship in the Gulf of Aden. Three members of the crew were killed; two of them were Filipinos. Two other Filipinos were seriously wounded in the attack and are now still recovering in Djibouti City. The other 11 Filipinos on that ship have been evacuated and they are unharmed and are coming home to the Philippines today.

Nagpaabot ng pakikiramay si Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. sa pamilya ng mga nasawing Pilipino sa nangyaring insidente.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs is closely coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers and other agencies in extending assistance to the affected Filipinos and their families.

And to give us the latest developments on this issue, we have here today Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega. Good morning, Usec. de Vega.

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Magandang umaga. Good morning, Ramadan Kareem to our Muslim brothers and sisters.

To speak of this issue, so following the president’s directive, we’ve been providing the best assistance that we could in coordination with the manning agency which is, of course, primarily responsible for working on the return of the seafarers. So, the DFA is involved here partly because, well, in the case of countries, for example, like Djibouti where there is no a resident embassy or migrant workers office, it should be the closest embassy which should be coordinating matters on the ground.

So, what happened was, we sent the embassy team from Cairo, our closest embassy, to meet the 13 surviving seafarers, including the three who are in the hospital. We provided the first tranche of financial assistance – this was from the Department of Foreign Affairs, we gave them a thousand dollars each – and to check on their repatriation.

So, we’d like to confirm what was mentioned. This early evening, at 6:15, they are set to arrive via Ethiopian Airlines from Hong Kong, stopover in Hong Kong because they will be flown from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and from there, to the Philippines.

Now, as for the three seafarers who were injured: Actually, one has recovered and will be joining the 10 others who were not injured, so that’s why there are 11 coming home tonight. Two are still in the hospital as mentioned; they are recovering, although their injuries were grave – an ordinary seaman who suffered severe facial burns; and the cook who, well, had to have his leg amputated. However, this time, the Department of Migrant Workers, under the whole-of-government approach, is working with the manning agency for their repatriation which will have to come later in the week.

So nagpadala po iyong Department of Migrant Workers din ng kanilang mga kinatawan na based in Riyadh, pinadala iyong kanilang attaché at saka iyong welfare officer there in Djibouti, and they’ll take charge of the two remaining seafarers; working with the manning agency. We expect that they will be flown home special, what we call air ambulance within the next few days.

Of course, there is now the issue of the two deceased seafarers. Again, the Philippine government, headed by President Marcos, reiterates our sincerest condolences to the families. Their bodies have not yet been recovered partially because the ship was still burning few days ago. But the manning agency has also reported that they are now trying to bring the ship to a nearby port where it could be salvaged and, hopefully, the remains recovered and eventually to be brought home to the Philippines.

Pag-uwi po mamayang gabi ng ating mga seafarers, hindi lang DFA ang sasalubong sa kanila. Nandudoon ang DMW-OWWA, DOH – in fact, Secretary Herbosa might himself be there – DSWD and some legislators. And what’s going to happen is that there will be more assistance packages provided to them.

We’d like to highlight as well that while this is a tragedy, there has been progress in what the government has been trying to do which is limit the risk for our seafarers. Last February, the DMW issued an advisory based on an agreement reached with the International Transport Workers Federation which defined the latest what you call warlike and high-risk areas, effective February 16, and that included the area around the Yemeni coast. Under such classification, sa war-like operation area, the seafarers have to be given the right to refuse sailing with repatriation at company cost and compensation equal to two months wage, basic wage; or if they continue to go, they have to have a bonus equivalent to their basic wage or double compensation, obviously, also for death and disability benefits.

What has happened is that, as you know, last March 6 was a tragic incident, but Houthi attacks occur practically daily on ships traversing the area. And this is the first we’ve had Filipino injuries or casualties, and that is because there have been no seafarers, no Filipino seafarers aboard the other ships which have been attacked by the Houthis. That means, the manning agencies are following the directive of the government to limit the presence of Filipino seafarers or have them have the option to refuse.

Of course, we know that the biggest shipping agencies are actually, even at great cost, using the other route through the Cape of Good Hope. Of course, it affects global supply chain and, of course, freedom of navigation or commerce. Nevertheless, safety is paramount. So ganoon po!

Again, I repeat, there are 11 coming home tonight; two more via special, not on commercial flight but via special ambulance, air ambulance – this is under the DMW – in the next few days where they will, of course, also be welcomed and assisted. This is all a part of the Philippines’ long-standing efforts to protect and assist our seafarers and their families and, of course, in pursuant to the directive of the president. So we hope the nation will welcome our brave seafarers when they arrive later this afternoon. Salamat po.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Thank you, Usec. Questions from Malacañang Press Corps – Eden Santos, NET 25.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Good morning po, sir. Iyon po bang classification na warlike and high-risk ay bago po ba ito or matagal na rin nating ipinapatupad before?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: This was effective February 16, pero palaging mayroong warlike and high-risk areas. For example, iyong areas close to Ukraine, northern Black Sea, have been identified as warlike operation area even from before. This list is updated always; and latest update was February 16 which included now the Yemeni coast. And under that, may mga rules dapat about how much compensation will be given to the seafarers.

If you note also—by the way, the acts that are occurring now have been condemned by the UN Security Council. So we have allies, we have friends who are with us and countries in the region are also assisting or other countries had operations that they are conducting in response to these Houthi attacks. But we have been in touch with the UK and USA to ensure that no harm comes to our seafarers.

Let us remember, there are still 17 seafarers aboard the Galaxy Leader who are still being held in Hodeidah (Al Hudayda) for over hundred days already by the Houthis. And we’re still working with friendly governments to see if they could be released but the Houthis are consistent in their statement that it would need an end to the war in Gaza before they will release the ship or the seafarers. But at the very least, we know that the seafarers are safe because they are not [unclear] there; they’re not in the best of conditions ‘no, but they are safe and able to contact their families.

I just want to take advantage of this occasion para, you know, to ensure the families that we haven’t forgotten them ‘no. Ginagawa namin lahat ng magagawa although it’s really not just a Philippine issue, it’s a global issue at palaging kinakausap namin iyong pamilya; iyong DMW, palaging nakikipagpulong sa mga pamilya so para bigyan silang updates. So ganoon po. So, may warlike and high-risk areas talaga and kasama na ngayon iyong Yemeni coast ‘no.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Mga ilan po ito lahat, sir, iyong mga warlike and high-risk areas po kasama iyong Yemeni coast?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: There are seven, I can name them. All right, there’s the Yemeni coast; there is the… well, malapit doon Southern Central with the Red Sea; there’s the… number three is the Gulf of Guinea which is in Liberia, near Liberia-Ivory Coast; number four is the Sea of Azov and the Strait of Kerch; number five is… these are in reaction to what’s happening in the UK ‘no, number five is the Northern Black Sea Region; number six, well, all ports in Ukraine; and number seven, the Black Sea. So, essentially three areas – the Yemeni Red Sea, part of the coast of Africa and the area around the Black Sea in Ukraine.

So, by the way, let’s emphasize: Filipino seafarers are vital to the world’s shipping industry – we know that; nearly one-fourth of all the world’s seafarers are Filipinos. So, about 490,000 or maybe half a million of them are at sea. So, we thank countries as well for assisting us – for example, the Indian Navy rescued our seafarers and Djibouti is working with us on the Filipino seafarers on the ground and other countries of course have been making their statements including through the UN about the need to stop these attacks on shipping ‘no.

So, ganoon po. And this is an advisory regularly issued by the Department of Migrant Workers and OIC Hans Cacdac is now in Germany with the president but he’s in touch with us. By the way, you called me secretary… I’m actually now designated as acting secretary of foreign affairs because the secretary is in Germany [laughs] and I am answering you everything about OFWs only or migrant workers only which is my real task for the DFA.

EDEN SANTOS/NET25: Usec., follow up question lang po. Under doon sa classification na the seafarers are given right to refuse na mag-ano po ‘no, seafarer. Why giving them the right to refuse instead of talagang huwag na lang silang sumakay, sumampa muna o bumiyahe para makaiwas po doon sa ano?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: You see, kung writer views, parang you’re making a ban on them to enter because sometimes if you talk to seafarers, when they leave the Philippines, they might not know the full trajectory of the voyage. In other words, punta sila isang port tapos lilipat sa ibang ship. So in other words, by saying huwag na lang pumayag… in fact you’re telling them huwag silang umalis ng Pilipinas.

Nevertheless, that’s something we’ll bring forward to Department of Migrant Workers, of course the Congress is still in the meeting – in fact there’s going to be hearing at the House tomorrow on Migrant Workers Bill, they’re making and they’re still trying to reformulate this seafarers bill ‘no and we’ll see what they might do ‘no. Although this is not the DFA’s call, decisions on banning deployment are with the DMW.

We understand your point ‘no but then again, Filipino seafarers also are known for their skills and we don’t want to stop them from undertaking these missions. Of course… by the way, I said Filipino seafarers are known ‘no but then again there are other countries with seafarers so you might know also that—on a related topic: On Sunday, though there were nine seafarers naman who returned from Iran – because there’s another ship being held by the Iranians but it’s not a warzone – there were 18 of them and one arrived last February, nine arrived three days ago, two more will arrive this week so that will leave six more seafarers.

What’s keeping them from going home – they are not hostages, we just need to have them replaced and the manning agency is searching for other seafarers. So itong dose na makakauwi na o nakauwi na have been replaced by seafarers from other countries.

So, the Iran situation is different – it’s not a warzone and the reason why their ship was taken was because of a dispute on the ownership. The situation though in Yemen, of course is rather different – we’re talking about warlike area now.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Question from Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN.

PIA GUTIERREZ/ABS-CBN: Hi, Usec. Usec., though the president is in Germany right now and the Philippines and Germany were set to sign a maritime cooperation agreement, posible po bang pag-usapan doon effort of Germany to ensure the safety of Filipino seafarers considering these threats po?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: For sure it will be spoken, for sure – absolutely!

PIA GUTIERREZ/ABS-CBN: Ano po iyong expectations po natin pagdating doon sa mga efforts na iyon, sir?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Well, of course, ang expectation natin ‘no – we are not going to tell Germany what to do, obviously. We’re not going to tell them join the coalition or what but we do expect and they will ensure that for ships bound for Germany, for example, German ports or for German-flagged vessels that they will give the highest protection to our seafarers; and also where the situation in the Red Sea is concerned, that of course they will readily voice to join the calls for an end to the current attacks and the release of our seafarers. And let’s see the statement they make after the meeting; we’re sure, it’s gonna be very successful. Thank you.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Ivan Mayrina, GMA-7.

IVAN MAYRINA/GMA-7: The Filipino seafarers, I would assume, know the risks involved in sailing in these high-risk areas. But just curious, Usec, do they actually exercise the right to decline? Do they actually decline or does the double compensation actually even encourage them more to take those high-risk voyages?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: The DMW and MARINA would have better firsthand information about this. But the statistics show that they are declining especially after what happened now, they will be declining because there are few seafarers now, Filipino seafarers now aboard ships plying that route, which means they are declining. Otherwise we expect a lot more because, again, day-to-day there is always a ship being attacked although possibly none like what happened to MV True Confidence which was destroyed ‘no.

But every day, MARINA, the manning agency, DMW informed the President, the DFA, “Oh there’s another ship which is subjected to an attack or an attempted attack,” and they check immediately if there are Filipino seafarers and there are none. So, it’s not that the Filipino seafarers disappeared; it means that they are exercising right to refuse or are being given other routes. As you know, big agencies as I said, the big companies are passing through the African route, so that’s probably what’s happening po.

We do know some will be motivated because of the double compensation but after this incident perhaps that will discourage you. May I say we also hope that in the season of Ramadan that there will be a solution to all these conflicts in the Middle East now because you know in the end peace is the best solution to everything!

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Alexis Romero of Philippine Star.

ALEXIS ROMERO /PHILIPPINE STAR: Usec, even what happened, does the DFA think na it’s about time that finally ma-enact na iyong Magna Carta for Seafarers because we understand it was about to be signed and then it was delayed because it’s under review. So, what’s the DFA stands on that, given these contexts?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: We do believe that any law which will improve a 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.

ALEXIS ROMERO /PHILIPPINE STAR: So, you want it probably as soon as possible?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Yes, but not so soon that they forget whatever they wanted to fix in the first place. Pero sana, sana, sana mapasa right away.

ALEXIS ROMERO /PHILIPPINE STAR: Thank you, Usec.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Noel Talacay, PTV.

NOEL TALACAY/PTV: Good morning po, Usec. Follow up ko lang po iyong question kanina ni Sir Ivan. Kung may option po iyong mga seafarers na maglayag po, palagay ninyo po ba hindi sila binigyan ng option na maglayag doon? Are we going to conduct an investigation as well sa kung maging accountable po ba iyong manning agency or iyong owner ng ship? Tapos, nagkaroon po last week yata ng salvaging operation. So, ano po ang nangyari doon? May update po ba? Ano po ba ang challenges din para ma-identify iyong dalawang namatay na Filipino?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Iyong pangalawa muna. Iyong salvaging operation—are you referring to MV True Confidence? As of last time, hindi…it’s not yet being undertaken kasi dinadala pa iyong barko somewhere and we can’t really indicate now saan dinadala kasi baka atakihin ng mga, well, mga hostile forces ‘no.

The difficulty in identifying would be the fact that we hope, well, hopefully they were burnt beyond recognition. Kasi noong nag-abandon ship iyong mga seafarers, sabi nila iyong dalawa kasi – tatlo actually, may isang Vietnamese – naipit sa lugar na nasusunog. Let’s, of course, miracle still happen; we never know they might have escaped or what but we were going by the presumption that they perished. All right, so iyon ang isang issue. We’ll update you on that ‘no.

Iyong first question, certainly we’ll encourage the DMW to check on this. Kung naiintindihan ko iyong tanong ibig sabihin, napilitan ba itong 15?

NOEL TALACAY/PTV: Yes po.

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Well, we can ask them tonight when they arrive. Kasama iyan sa natural set of questions na tatanungin ng mga concerned agencies ‘no “Kung bakit kayo nandoon? Alam ba ninyo na dadaan kayo doon?” At kung hindi pala nila alam or pinilit lang sila, then we have to take the right actions against the manning agency. But we’d like to think they did not violate any of these advisories that were or issued by the government.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Tuesday Niu, DZBB.

TUESDAY NIU/ DZBB: Good morning, sir. Sir, do you have data as to how grave are these incidents affecting our deployment of seafarers and how this affects the seafaring industry now?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: By the way, the empirical data—how brave you mean, brazen or brave, how brave?

TUESDAY NIU/ DZBB: How grave.

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Any situation wherein you have ships being attacked is always grave. It’s a grave situation for us to have seven areas designated as war-like operations or high rich areas. However, doon sa ibang areas mentioned outside the Yemeni coast and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden we haven’t had Filipino casualties. So, to us it’s already grave enough na may namatay. Now as for more empirical data, this will have to come from other sources ‘no but hopefully this will be the last incident where we have Filipino seafarers or other seafarers being killed by an attack ‘no. Thank you po.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Melvin Gascon, Philippine Daily Inquirer.

MELVIN GASCON/ PDI: Good morning, sir, Usec. My question is about the pending, the unresolved issue on Galaxy Leader. I understand you mentioned yesterday there’s some complexity in terms of asking for the release of the 17 because of the so called diplomatic demands. My question is what sort of concrete efforts is the DFA doing so that you can work on their release eventually?

DFA USEC. DE VEGA: Well, our Honorary Consul in Yemen is a Yemeni national and he’s always in touch with that government. Of course, the Houthis call themselves the legitimate Yemeni government; we recognize the one in Aden.

We’re always in touch with them and the problem is there is only one response that [they] will only release in case the situation in Gaza is already resolved. We have been talking with friendly countries around the region who have assisted us in the past; if you remember, countries like Qatar helped for the release of the two Filipino hostages held by the Hamas. We talked to Israel and Egypt, and that allowed us to have our citizens leave Gaza – there were originally 137, now 136 have left – there’s only the Filipino nun remaining ‘no. But that’s different – now, we’re just asking for them to be allowed to leave or to be released – I’m talking about the ship and seafarers.

But one concrete effort we’re undertaking is we’re also working with the ambassadors and the governments of the other countries with hostages aboard. Remember there is Romanian government, there is Bulgarian, Mexican, Ukrainian and there’s simply seems to be a no solution other than what they demand. That’s why we said that sana, we hope that there will be solution in Gaza and Israel which is being worked on and they’ll be released. But at the many least, one thing, we’re always in touch with the Houthis about is to ensure that they are treated well and they are able to contact their families – there was a time they could not, but now they’re able to contact their families.

So, it’s a very complicated situation. We’ll update you more on efforts we’re undertaking. So, iyon nga first and foremost their safety – hindi sila nakakalimutan. The last time they took Filipino hostages, with the ship captain some years ago – it took about five months or six months and that was not under war-like situation. So our hearts go to the families, pero hindi namin kayo nakalimutan. Mayroon tayong mga kaunting tagumpay, may napapauwing mga seafarers tayo pero siyempre ang vision natin, ang nais natin makauwi lahat nang buhay and we’ll continue working on that.

By the way, I have another announcement: The Secretary of Foreign Affairs has signed a department order. It’s going to take effect once it’s published or it’s registered with the UP Law Center. Renaming my particular unit kasi I am officially the head of what you call the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs. So, I’m Undersecretary for Migrant Workers – that confuses people who sometimes think I am with the DMW.

Now, under the new law, certain functions have to be transferred already to the DMW and we have…we’re under the transition, we’re passing a lot of its functions although it’s still a work in progress but we can’t lose the existence of the office because we still have our own funds, our assistance to nationals and legal assistance funds for Filipinos who are not, for example, who are not migrant workers kasi ang DMW full migrant workers pero kunwari turista, estudyante or even permanent residents – kami pa rin.

So, we are going to name our office The Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs. So, I will be Usec. for Migration Affairs therefore means we’ll focus not just on assistance but on the policy issues because DFA of course still has a primary role in defining policy. Ang DMW will be of course deployment, regulation of deployment – sila nagdi-decide kung magba-ban, kung papayag tayo ng ganiyan.

To give a good example of a distinction: Recently iyong nangyari sa Thailand, they were tourists, our trans-Pinays there and wala namang labor office, so Bangkok we handled it at nakauwi na silang apat – three on Friday and one on Saturday.

So, all’s well that ends well. That was of course an interesting topic but we are friends and the Filipino government takes care of all our nationals abroad whatever their gender identity is.

MS. OSEÑA-PAEZ: Okay. Well, on that note I think that’s a good way to end today’s briefing and congratulations on renaming your office to Undersecretary of Migration Affairs. That’s great.

So, thank you so much, Malacañang Press Corps. And thank you, Undersecretary De Vega. Maraming salamat at good afternoon everyone!

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