A meeting is being set up by Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Senator Erwin Tulfo with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), in an effort to address the safety of at least 24 Filipino seafarers currently stationed on Russian vessels and who stand the risk of being caught in the middle of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Sen. Erwin said the urgency of the meeting follows reports that these seafarers may be caught in the crossfire, adding: “We want to determine the specific steps the DFA and DMW are taking to ensure the safety and security of these seafarers.”
He said the data regarding the number of Filipino seamen was shared by Ukrainian Ambassador Yuliia Fediv during a courtesy call with the Senator last week.
In that meeting, Senator Tulfo emphasized the need to verify the employment status of the affected Filipinos.
“I want the DMW to find out if these seamen were direct hires or if they were deployed through local manning agencies,” the lawmaker said, as he also clarified the legal implications of their employment.
“If they were deployed through a manning agency, that company holds responsibility for their welfare should anything happen to them. However, if they were direct hires, we can appeal for them to return home immediately, as their lives are in grave danger,” Sen. Tulfo stated, as he also urged Ambassador Fediv to allow Raymon Santos Gumangan, a Filipino prisoner of war (POW) in Ukraine, to communicate with his family in the Philippines, even if only via telephone.
Reportedly, Gumangan was captured by Ukrainian forces while serving under the Russian military, despite accounts from his family that he had originally secured employment as a ‘logistics truck driver’ through an online job portal, only to find himself entangled in the conflict upon arrival.
Ambassador Fediv committed to facilitating a way for Gumangan to reach his family and assured Sen. Tulfo that Gumangan is being treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
