We offer our sincerest condolences to the families and loved ones of our kababayans who were killed in the attack by suspected Houthi rebels while aboard shipping vessels in the Red Sea. We continue to pray for the safety of our fellow Filipinos who remain in the area.
We continue to call on the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Migrant Workers to exert all efforts in monitoring the situation and ensuring the welfare of our affected kababayans.
Given the high risks faced by our seafarers in that region, we urge the DMW to assess the need for a temporary deployment ban. In addition, the agency must thoroughly review the contracts of our seafarers to ensure compliance and require manning agencies and its principals to submit an undertaking to comply with the ban, and the right to refuse sailing by the seafarers is being honored with procedure on how to facilitate disembarkation should be submitted to the DMW, the agency’s monitoring and facilitation of such right.
Our top priority remains the protection and welfare of our Filipino seafarers, as enshrined in the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, which we authored in the Senate.
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