Palace: Employers negotiating for 61 Pinoy sailors still held captive by pirates

Malacañang on Saturday said employers are negotiating for the release of 61 Filipino sailors who are still being held captive by pirates. As a policy, the government of the Philippines -- the world's top supplier of sailors -- does not negotiate directly with pirates. Some 400,000 Filipinos comprise one-fourth of the estimated 1.5 million merchant mariners worldwide. Philippine Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) only coordinates with the sailors' employers who are the ones dealing with the pirates. “Kapag ganitong insidente, employer ang nakikipag-usap sa mga pirates, hindi ang DFA. So ina-assure natin there is coordination and assistance by the DFA to the employers and to the families para meron silang link ang pamilya," Valte said on government-run dzRB radio. “Kapag napapakawalan na seafarers natin, the DFA is there to assist kung gusto nilang bumalik sa trabaho o umuwi na," she added. Sailor victims of kidnapping The DFA in January this year said 769 Filipino sailors aboard 63 vessels have been held captive since 2006, mostly in the pirate-infested waters off Somalia. On March 26, the DFA said 10 Filipino sailors were among 23 crew members of a ship seized by Somali pirates near the Gulf of Aden. DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said the MV Eglantine, a Cypriot-flagged, Iranian-owned vessel, was hijacked off the southwestern coast of India. On March 20, three Filipino sailors were abducted by Yemeni tribesmen to demand for the release of a jailed colleague. "Our cisis management [team] in Sanaa, Yemen is getting in touch with Yemen authorities (Ministry of Foreign affairs, Ministry of Interior and Maritime Security) Philippine honorary consul in Marib, their employer, and Filipino leaders to verify the report and ascertain their identities," Hernandez said in a text message to GMA News Online on March 23. "Our team will meet with concerned government officials to ensure the safe and early release of the hostages," he added. — LBG/TJD/VVP, GMA News