2 rescued Pinoy seafarers in Nigeria injured – DFA

2 rescued Pinoy seafarers in Nigeria injured – DFA
05/19/2009 | 04:10 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Two of the Filipino seafarers rescued last weekend from a hijacked oil tanker in Nigeria were hurt, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos Jr. said the injured were among the nine Filipino seamen — not just six as earlier reported — who were rescued from Niger militants who hijacked the MV Spirit on May 13.

The MV Spirit had a seven other crew members of different nationalities, the DFa said.

“Two of the nine rescued Filipino seafarers had slight injuries,” Conejos said.

DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo had earlier dispatched Conejos to personally look into the condition and welfare of the Filipino seafarers on board the chartered oil tanker.

Quoting Nigerian army spokesperson Colonel Rabe Abubakar, the DFA reported that the latest operations brought the number of freed hostages to 13, including the nine Filipinos and four Nigerians.

“A consular team was sent to the city of Warri in Delta State where the hijacking took place, and the nine rescued Filipino sailors are expected to be turned over to the embassy’s custody shortly,” Conejos added.

Conejos and. Alex Lamadrid, Charge d’Affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Abuja, had met and continue to communicate with the Nigerian foreign ministry and federal security officials for the safe and early release of the remaining Filipino seafarers in the custody of Nigerian militants, the DFA said.

After years of militant activity and lack of maintenance on crucial oil infrastructure, Nigeria produces about 1.6 million barrels of crude per day, or about one quarter less than its stated capacity

The Philippine government has stopped sending Filipino workers to Nigeria following hostilities and kidnappings of foreign nationals. Several groups have requested that Manila lift the deployment ban as the situation there continues to improve. – Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV

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Manning agency told to hasten payment of fine for 13 jailed OFWs in Nigeria

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV
02/25/2009 | 04:19 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Noli de Castro on Tuesday said that he has told a local manning agency to hasten payment of the fine imposed on 13 jailed Filipino seamen in Nigeria so that they can finally be released.

De Castro said he has ordered Sea Gem Maritime International Inc. to cooperate with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regarding the immediate payment of the fine by the Corinthian City, their foreign principal, and the eventual repatriation of the jailed seafarers.

Reports from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that the Nigerian court is asking for a fine of $6,500 or more than P310,000 for each of the imprisoned OFWs — a total of $84,500 or more than P4 million — for the entire group who were charged for allegedly stealing oil.

Stealing oil tapped illegally from well heads or pipelines is said to be a lucrative practice in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest petroleum producer.

The DFA said that the seafarers are going to languish in jail for five years unless the fines set by the Nigerian court are paid.

In a statement on Tuesday, De Castro expressed disappointment over the recruitment firm because the conviction of the 13 Filipino seamen in Nigeria is already the second incident that involved the agency.

Earlier, nine Filipino seamen contracted by Sea Gem were stranded in Nigeria after they escaped from armed pirates. Six of them were immediately repatriated, while the other three are expected to return to the Philippines soon.

“[Sea Gem] is presently facing several complaints and it must cooperate with the investigation of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA). And if found liable, proper sanctions should be imposed,” said De Castro, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s adviser for OFW affairs.
GMANews.TV tried contacting Sea Gem Maritime International Inc. but it was not available for comment.

Records from the POEA showed that the agency is currently on preventive suspension. – GMANews.TV

Aside from Iraq, team to study lifting of deployment ban in Lebanon, Nigeria

02/06/2009 | 04:10 PM

MANILA, Philippines – The assessment team which will look into the possibility of lifting the deployment ban to Iraq will also study the possible resumption of the deployment of Filipino workers to Lebanon and Nigeria.

Vice President Noli De Castro – who is also the concurrent presidential adviser on OFWs – said the security of Filipino workers who will be deployed to these countries will be the main consideration for the assessment team led by special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu.

The team will leave for Iraq, Lebanon and Nigeria next week.

“We seek to lift the deployment bans on these countries in order to widen our overseas employment market in the light of the global economic crisis besetting us… But of course, the safety and welfare of our OFWs far outweigh the economic effects. That’s why the decision of lifting the ban will be exhaustively and carefully studied,” De Castro said.

The government has decided to review its deployment policy in the three countries after receiving reports that security situation there have normalized, De Castro said.

But he said Manila will maintain its deployment ban in Jordan and Afghanistan as these countries are still considered “high-risk zone” for Filipino workers.

Manila imposed a ban on Iraq following the kidnapping of two Filipino truck drivers in 2004 and 2005.

Before the ban, around 6,000 Filipinos are working in Iraq and confined inside US military camps due to the volatile security condition in the country. But the figure, according to Iraq’s embassy in Manila, has swelled to 15,000, most of them working for foreign companies in Iraq’s northern region.

There is no way to monitor the exit and entry of Filipino workers in Iraq after the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad was temporarily relocated to Amman, Jordan in January 2005 because of the worsening security condition in the Middle East state.

The government likewise imposed a ban on Lebanon in 2006 after violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces. Around 6,000 of them have been repatriated to the Philippines during the war, while the rest opted to stay for fear of losing their jobs. Manila also stopped the deployment of workers to Nigeria following a spate of kidnappings involving Filipino workers. – GMANews.TV