Senate eyes policy review on Filipino seafarers' deployment to high-risk areas
Senator Raffy Tulfo said Thursday that he will propose a hearing, in aid of legislation, to review and outline new policies and regulations on the deployment of Filipino seafarers to high-risk waters.
Tulfo, chairman of the Senate committee on migrant workers, said this following reports that nine Filipino sailors are currently being held by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
'Kabilang sa mga tatalakayin ay kung dapat na bang magkaroon ng mandatory security assessment sa mga mapanganib na ruta, at kung kinakailangan nang magpatupad ng total deployment ban sa mga lugar na may mataas na banta sa buhay at kaligtasan ng ating mga seafarers,' the senator said in a statement.
(Among the things that will be discussed is if there's a need to have a mandatory security assessment on dangerous routes, and if it is necessary to implement a total deployment ban in areas with a high threat to the lives and safety of our seafarers.)
The Iran-backed Houthis earlier released footage of crew members who were missing after attacks on the cargo ships Eternity C and Magic Seas, claiming in an accompanying statement to have "rescued" the mariners.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega had confirmed that the Houthis were holding nine Filipino seafarers.
According to Tulfo, he has asked Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Cacdac to ensure the Filipino seafarers' safety and their swift return to their families.
'Isang malaking bagay ang makumpirma nating buhay pa ang ating mga kababayang tripulante. Kaya't agad kong iminungkahi kay Sec. Cacdac na gawin ng DMW at mga kaukulang ahensya ang lahat ng kinakailangang hakbang upang matiyak ang kanilang kaligtasan at mapalaya sila sa lalong madaling panahon,' the senator said.
(It's good to know that the Filipino crew members are still alive. I immediately suggested to Sec. Cacdac that the DMW and relevant agencies take all the necessary steps to ensure their safety and release as soon as possible.)
In 2024, the DMW issued guidelines for licensed manning agencies to observe should Filipino seafarers be assigned on ships that would ply high-risk and conflict areas.
The guidelines were released 'in the paramount interest of the continued safety and well-being of all Filipino seafarers on-board ships and in light of the increasing incidence of piracy, hijacking, and/or armed violence against ships passing through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and surrounding areas/waters.' — RF, GMA Integrated News
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
6 hours ago
- GMA Network
Former Romanian President Iliescu, who led free market transition, dies at 95
Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu gestures during a meeting with foreign media in Bucharest May 17, 2007. He died on August 5, 2025. (Reuters photo) Romania's former President Ion Iliescu, who led its transition from communism and set it on the path to European Union and NATO membership, but faced charges of crimes against humanity for violently suppressing protests in the 1990s, died on Tuesday aged 95. Iliescu had been admitted to hospital with lung cancer roughly two months ago. The government said he would receive a state funeral. "History will judge Ion Iliescu, the main figure of the 1990s transition," said current President Nicusor Dan. Iliescu went from a rising member of Romania's Communist Party to a leader of the bloody December 1989 revolution - which toppled dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and led to his summary execution on Christmas Day - to become the first freely elected president. At the height of his popularity, Romanians were known to chant "The sun shines, Iliescu appears". But when student protests against him broke out in the capital Bucharest in June 1990, he called on coal miners, then politically influential, to put them down by force. After repeated failed attempts to investigate him, he was sent for trial at the start of this year on charges of crimes against humanity for his part in violence in which 20,000 miners entered the capital to crush peaceful anti-government protests. Four people were killed and hundreds injured. He always denied wrongdoing and was never convicted. Miners' riots throughout the 1990s hampered Romania's transition to a market economy and deterred badly needed foreign investment for years. Iliescu's critics have accused him of delaying the transitions, trying to block reform and protect the political heritage and ruling elite of the Communist system. But Iliescu was also the one who got all political parties to agree to support Romania's path to EU and NATO membership. It joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and the EU in 2007. The founder of the leftist Social Democrat Party (PSD), to this day the country's largest, Iliescu is its only leader to have won three presidential elections. No other PSD leader has managed to win since his last term ended in 2004. "Ion Iliescu must be understood in the context of his time," said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University. "He stirred anti-totalitarian sentiments in the 1990s, rightly so, but he was also the object of adulation by a large part of the population. "While he called miners to Bucharest and sealed the slow and uncertain transition, he also ... pushed Romania on a Euroatlantic path, such as it was understood at the time." He is survived by his wife Nina. The government has declared August 7 a day of national mourning.—Reuters
GMA Network
7 hours ago
- GMA Network
India offers free e-visas to Filipino tourists
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the "gratis e-tourist visas for Filipinos" following his bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. India will offer e-visas free of charge to Filipino tourists as part of "facilitating greater people-to-people exchanges." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the "gratis e-tourist visas for Filipinos" following his bilateral meeting with President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. Marcos is in New Delhi for a state visit on the invitation of the Prime Minister. "I reiterated the introduction of visa-free entry privileges and extended our invitation for more Indian tourists to visit the Philippines," Marcos said. "I thank Prime Minister Modi in turn for the introduction of a scheme to grant visa free of charge to Filipino tourists traveling to India," he added. The visa privileges were also mentioned in the Declaration on the Establishment of a Strategic Partnership between the two countries, signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar. "Facilitating greater people-to-people exchanges. In this regard, the two leaders welcomed the grant of visa-free privileges to Indian tourists by the Philippines, and the extension of gratis e-tourist visa for Filipino nationals by India," the declaration read. –NB, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
10 hours ago
- GMA Network
Israel considers full Gaza takeover as more Palestinians die of hunger
TEL AVIV/CAIRO — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu favors a complete military takeover of Gaza for the first time in two decades, media reported, and was to meet senior security officials on Tuesday to finalize a new strategy in the 22-month war. Mediation between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas has collapsed despite intense international pressure for a ceasefire to ease hunger and appalling conditions in the besieged Palestinian enclave. Eight more people died of starvation or malnutrition in the past 24 hours, Gaza's health ministry said, while another 79 died in the latest Israeli fire. Netanyahu was to meet Defense Minister Israel Katz and military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to decide on a strategy to take to cabinet later this week, an Israeli official told Reuters. Strategic Affairs Minister Rob Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu, would also be present. Israel's Channel 12, citing an official from Netanyahu's office, said the prime minister was leaning towards taking control of the entire territory. That would reverse a 2005 decision to pull settlers and military out of Gaza while retaining control over its borders, a move right-wing parties blame for Hamas gaining power there. It was unclear, however, whether Netanyahu was foreseeing a prolonged occupation or a short-term operation aimed at dismantling Hamas and freeing Israeli hostages. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Channel 12 report. A Palestinian official said it may be a tactic to pressure Hamas into concessions, while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry urged foreign nations to take heed of the reports. "The ministry urges countries and the international community to treat these leaks with utmost seriousness and to intervene urgently to prevent their implementation, whether these leaks are meant to exert pressure, test international reactions, or are genuine and serious," it said. Strained military Israel's coalition government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, includes far-right politicians who advocate for the annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank and encourage Palestinians to leave their homeland. Nearly two years of fighting in Gaza has strained the military, which has a small standing army and has had to repeatedly mobilise reservists. It has throughout the war pushed back against the idea of Israel fully occupying Gaza and establishing military rule. In a sign of differences between some members of Israel's ruling coalition and the military, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on X challenged military head Zamir to state he would comply with government directives even if a decision was made to take all of Gaza. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar then said the military chief must give his professional opinion, while Defense Minister Katz weighed in to say the military would professionally implement whatever policy the government set. "Defeating Hamas in Gaza, while creating the conditions for the return of the hostages, are the central goals of the war in Gaza, and we must take all necessary actions to achieve them," Katz said. The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants on October 7, 2023, attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and capturing 251 hostages, taking them into Gaza. Israel's military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people—mostly civilians—according to Palestinian health authorities. Hunger Israel's campaign has forced nearly all of Gaza's over 2 million people from their homes and caused what a global hunger monitor called last week an unfolding famine. Some 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from hunger since the war began, according to Gaza authorities. An Israeli security official, in a briefing to reporters, acknowledged there may be hunger in some parts of Gaza but rejected reports of famine or starvation. International anger at the suffering in Gaza has prompted several countries to recognise or announce their intention to recognise Palestine as an independent state. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks pushed into central Gaza but it was not clear if the move was part of a larger ground offensive. Palestinians living in the last quarter of territory where Israel has not yet taken military control—via ground incursions or orders for civilians to leave—said any new push would be catastrophic. "If the tanks pushed through, where would we go, into the sea? This will be like a death sentence to the entire population," said Abu Jehad, a Gaza wood merchant. The failed mediation in Doha had aimed to clinch agreements on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which aid would be flown into Gaza and half of the hostages Hamas is holding would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. — Reuters
