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By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter
The 14 Filipino seafarers who
were accused of stealing crude oil in Nigeria returned to Manila on
Friday.
A joint Nigerian military
taskforce had arrested the seafarers on July 11 aboard MT Lina, a
ship flying under a Panamanian flag of convenience that was found to
be carrying barrels of crude oil allegedly stolen at Brass, in
southern Nigeria.
The Filipinos were detained there
and were even presented to media in Nigeria.
BBC News Network had quoted Rey
Chavez, the ship captain, as saying that they “didn’t know about
the stolen crude, and [that] they were the victims of piracy; and
had been locked up in the bridge of the ship by youth who boarded
the boat.”
Foreign Affairs spokesman Claro
Cristobal said the seamen were reportedly unable to account for the
origin of the crude oil onboard their vessel.
An independent newspaper called
The Nation also showed a picture of the Filipino seafarers and
quoted Chavez as saying they were on their way to Angola from
Cotonou, the capital of Benin, when they were attacked.
Besides Chavez, the other
Filipino crew are Chief Mate Nelson Corpin, Antonio Longino, Jun
Garcenila, Judel Garcenila, Eugenio Mediano, Jose Palmero, Tirzo
Olaivar, Jerome Competente, Joselito Gabion, Rito Bajoyo, Rexy
Aldovino, Louie Gillesania and Mark Dimaano.
They arrived at the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport in Manila aboard Philippine Airlines Flight
301.
Executive Director Crescente
Relacion of the Foreign Affairs’ Migrant Workers Affairs welcomed
the Filipinos. It remains unclear, however, if the seafarers
were able to prove that they were innocent of the charges raised
against them.
BBC News reported that the
Filipino crew would be handed over to the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission when the military’s investigations are complete.
Nigeria is one of the world’s
top oil producers whose internal troubles impact on the global
prices of oil.
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