DFA: Pinoy seafarers held hostage in Red Sea are 'fine'

The 17 Filipino seafarers who are among the hostages in the ship seized by Yemen's rebel group Houthi in the Red Sea are fine, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday. In a television interview, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said Houthi members have been consistent in indicating that they will not hurt the hostages. “The good news is that we do know that our seafarers are fine and that the Houthi rebels have been indicating consistently that they do not intend to harm them,” De Vega said in an ANC interview. While he cannot predict when the Pinoy hostages will be released, De Vega pointed out that there have been instances before that Filipino seafarers were taken in Yemen and all of them were eventually released. “The government is still doing what it can. We're on top of the situation…We'll get them out,” De Vega said. According to him, some of the Filipino seafarers were able to contact their families. De Vega said the Houthi rebels were saying that they will continue to do this as long as Israel keeps on occupying and attacking Gaza. With the four-day truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas set to start on Friday, De Vega said the Philippine government is optimistic that it will also lead to the release of the hostages in the ship. On Wednesday, the DFA said 17 Pinoy seafarers were among the foreigners held hostage by Houthis earlier this week. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has instructed the DFA to do everything to ensure the safety of the Filipinos held hostage in the Red Sea. The Houthis, an ally of Iran, have been launching long-range missile and drone salvoes at Israel in solidarity with the Hamas militants fighting in the Gaza Strip. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA Integrated News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more