MANILA – The 21 Filipino crew members of the MV Tutor arrived safely in the Philippines around noon on Monday.
They left Bahrain, where they were ferried by a rescue United States Navy Ship, on Sunday. Labor Attache Hector Cruz of the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) – Al Khobar accompanied the sailors.
One Filipino remained missing though.
Before boarding Gulf Air flight GF154, Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain Anne Jalando-on Louis, MWO – Bahrain Officer-in-Charge Celia Cabadonga and welfare officer Dr. Amelito Adel Cruz gave them a briefing and financial assistance of 192 Bahraini dinars (about PHP30,000).
At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City, they were met by Secretaries Hans Cacdac of Migrant Workers and Ted Herbosa of Health, and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, also the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs chair.
The seafarers will receive PHP230,000 each in immediate financial assistance from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), House of Representatives-Office of the Speaker, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and Department of Social Welfare and Development.
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and his wife, Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, will dip into their calamity funds for the PHP150,000 cash assistance they would contribute for each seafarer.
“This assistance is a token of our gratitude for their courage and resilience during this harrowing ordeal,” the Speaker said in a statement.
“We stand by them and are committed to providing the necessary support,” Rep. Yedda Romualdez added.
Reports said Houthi rebels rained drones and missiles on the Liberia-flagged vessel on June 12 near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.
The attack caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room.
DMW officials accompanied the family of the missing seafarer to the office of the manning agency.
“I met the ship owner’s agent there and we were assured that we will not stop in terms of locating our missing seafarer who is just within the ship,” Cacdac said at the Saturday News Forum on June 15. (PNA)
