Some of the 17 Filipino seafarers who are among the hostages in the ship seized by Yemen’s rebel group Houthi in the Red Sea have already been able to contact their families, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.
DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said this development was consistent with the statement of the rebels that they will not hurt the hostages.
“The good news is that we do know that our seafarers are fine and that the Houthi rebels have been indicating consistently that they do not intend to harm them,” De Vega said in an ANC interview.
While he said there is no indicator yet as to hostages will be released, De Vega said there have been instances before that Filipino seafarers held hostage in Yemen were all eventually freed.
“The government is still doing what it can. We’re on top of the situation…We’ll get them out,” the DFA official said.
With the four-day truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas set to start, De Vega said the government is optimistic that it will also lead to the release of the hostages in the ship.
Yemeni rebels seized the cargo vessel Galaxy Leader and held captive its 25 crew members, including the 17 Filipinos, in retaliation for Israel’s offensive in Gaza, the DFA said. The other hostages are from Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Mexico.
The Bahamas-flagged, British-owned Galaxy Leader, with ties to Israeli businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar, is operated by a Japanese firm.
President Marcos on Wednesday said the government is in close contact with various countries to secure the safe release of the Filipino hostages.
“Our seafarers are not alone. The government is doing everything in our power to bring them safely home,” the President said in a Facebook post.