3 Pinoys freed; RP urges tougher stand vs piracy

Three Filipino seafarers aboard a chemical tanker hijacked last December have been released, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Saturday. Citing reports from the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi, the DFA said the three Filipinos aboard MV St. James Park were released unharmed Thursday evening. "Also on board are six Indians, five Bulgarians, three Russians, three Turkish, two Romanians, two Ukranians, one Georgian, and one Polish. The vessel is now heading to Oman," the DFA said in its website. It said Somali pirates hijacked the British-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on December 28 last year. At the time, it was headed to Tha Put, Thailand from Tarragona, Spain. The DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) is coordinating with the seafarers' manning agency and the vessel owner to arrange for their repatriation. Filipino seafarers still held captive by Somali are: one on board MV Iceberg-1, 19 on the MT Samho Dream, 21 onboard MV Voc Daisy and 19 onboard the MV Eleni P, the DFA said. "The DFA-OUMWA continues to coordinate closely with the local manning agencies for the early and safe release of all these seafarers," it said. Tough stand Meanwhile, the Philippines once again called on the international community to step up efforts and intensify cooperation against piracy. It said piracy has now extended to other shipping routes. In a statement delivered at the United Nations General Assembly Informal Meeting on Piracy Saturday, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Libran Cabactulan said the country is ready to work with the world body and other states and partners to find ways to address the scourge of piracy, including its root causes. "The number of piracy incidents, if not restrained, is projected to grow. Piracy is no longer confined to the Gulf of Aden but has extended to the wider Indian Ocean. Buoyed by their initial successes and impunity from prosecution, the Somali pirates have converted their crude activities into a highly lucrative industry," Cabactulan said. Excerpts of his address were posted on the DFA website. — LBG, GMANews.TV