22 Pinoy seafarers freed by pirates in Somalia

(Updated: 3:43 PM) After more than five months in captivity, 22 Filipino seafarers on board a Greek merchant ship were freed by their Somali captors, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. In a statement on Tuesday, the DFA said the local manning agency of MV Irene confirmed the safe release of the all-Filipino crew on Monday. "Negotiations for the release of the vessel and its crew had been successful and that it is now working on the repatriation of the Filipino seafarers," the DFA said. The St. Vincent-flagged merchant ship was hijacked off the Gulf of Aden last April 15. This latest development has brought down to 22 the total number of Filipino seafarers still held hostage this year. Somali pirates often do not hurt their hostages and only demand a hefty ransom from ship owners. Last year however, a Filipino seafarer died by accident, when the Somali bandits boarded their ship. The body has since been repatriated. Earlier, Malacañang refused to direct any of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ funds to pay any part of the $2.8 million or almost P137 million in exchange for the release of the 22 Filipino seafarers of MV Irene. The families of the victims have earlier appealed to the Philippine government, the United Nations, the African Union, and other international organizations to intervene for the release of the hostages. An online petition has even been set up for the release of the hostages and the growing problems of piracy. A similar petition has also been set up on networking sites such as Facebook. It was not clear whether the Somali pirates received money in exchange for the release of the MV Irene or its crew. - Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV