PHL urges protection of sailor victims of Somali piracy

GMA News
Friday, March 30, 2012

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Upon the prodding of Philippine officials, the Contact Group on Piracy Off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) has included the post-piracy care for seafarers affected by piracy as part of its agenda.

The Philippine officials had pushed for the protection of seafarers, especially those victimized by Somali pirates, during a meeting of the CGPCS' Contact Group 3 in London on March 21.

On March 26, a few days after the meeting, 10 Filipino sailors were among those abducted by Somali pirates from a sea vessel near the Gulf of Aden.

Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson Raul Hernandez said the 10 sailors were among the 23 crew members of mixed nationalities of MV Eglantine, a Cypriot-flagged, Iranian-owned vessel hijacked off the southwestern coast of India, about 1,000 nautical miles East from the Gulf of Aden.

The CGPCS is an inter-governmental framework endorsed by the United Nations Security Council to coordinate counter-piracy efforts off Somalia.

It admitted the Philippines as a regular member November 10, 2010.

In a DFA news release, Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Enrique Manalo said: "International efforts have concentrated on the protection of merchant vessels traversing Somali waters but programs benefiting the victims of piracy have not been adopted by the different international fora where the problem of piracy off Somalia is discussed."

"Piracy disrupts the global trade in goods, 80% of which are transported by sea making global efforts to counter the menace even more important," the DFA said.

Manalo deputized Philippine Embassy Minister Francisco Noel Fernandez to articulate the interests of Filipino seafarers in the meetings of the CGPCS working groups held in the last few days in Washington, D.C. and London.

The DFA said governments will explore concrete steps to facilitate the rehabilitation and reintegration of seafarers who are released by Somali pirates from captivity.

Manalo said programs adopted by non-governmental organizations to provide counseling and assistance to seafarers released by pirates should be complemented by international governmental undertakings.

During the CGPCS Working Group 1's meeting this week in London, the Philippine delegation explored possible initiatives on post-piracy care of seafarers with other national and regional partners.

"After successfully obtaining a decision to include post-piracy care of seafarers in the CGPCS agenda, it is important for us to continue to exchange ideas with our international partners in order to identify concrete steps that we can take to benefit our seafarers. We hope to be able to prepare the initial documents for moving this issue forward in the next few days," Manalo said.

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