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Six Filipino seafarers were held hostage by unknown parties
following the hijacking of the Le Ponant, a French cruise vessel
where the Filipinos are working, last April 4 in international
waters in the Gulf of Aden, the Department of Foreign affairs said
Tuesday.
The six hostages are five males and one female.
Undersecretary for Foreign Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos declined
to name the hostages on the request of their families.
Le Ponant, which has around 30 crewmembers on
board, has been voyaging from Alexandra to Malta where they were due
to pick up passengers for a cruise. The vessel, however, is
currently under control of unknown suspects off the Northeast coast
of Somalia.
Conejos could not confirm the identities of the
hijackers or their demands, but reports from international news
sources and the ship’s position show that the suspects are either
Somali pirates or rebels.
“We have a policy that the Philippine
government should not be directly involved in a hostage situation
which happened in another country, but our embassy officials have
already aired our concern to the French government for the release
our fellow Filipinos,” Conejos said.
“We also made it clear that the safety of the
hostages should be the priority in rescue operations,” Conejos
added.
The Philippines does not have an Embassy in
Somalia, but the area is under the jurisdiction of the Philippine
Embassy in Nairobi. The embassies in Nairobi and Riyadh were also
alerted to keep an eye on the situation and to coordinate with local
authorities.
The Embassy in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, has
also been tapped to observe the situation and contact the US Sixth
Fleet which is in charge of patrolling the international waters in
the area.
“The Philippine Embassy in Paris assured us
that all hostages, including the Filipinos are in good condition,
Conejos said. “I have talked to the families of the six Filipino
hostages, and we have guaranteed them that the government will do
everything for the safe release of their loved ones.”
-- Katrice R. Jalbuena
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