‘Let our sailors go’

A group of seafarers has appealed directly to Somali pirates to release their 105 Filipino colleagues who are still in their custody.

The International Seafarers’ Action Center (ISAC) Philippines Foundation, Inc. asked the pirates to let the Filipinos be reunited with their families.

"We are appealing to our Somali brethren to release their Filipino captives for their families here in The Philippines are weary and they cannot tolerate the agony of thinking that their loved ones are being held hostage by so-called pirates, as the international media wants to convey," said maritime lawyer and ISAC secretary general Joseph Entero. "We believe, it is not the way a human must treat his fellow human."

The article was posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.

Last week, another 22 Filipinos were captured by pirates who apprehending the bulk carrier, M/V Irene E.M., sailing from India to Jordan.

More Filipinos than any other nationality are held hostage by Somali pirates, but there is no dearth of seafarers looking for jobs in Manila.

With dozens of cargo vessels anchored empty and idle in most ports around Asia, hundreds of sailors gather regularly at the Manila’s Luneta park, which functions as a recruitment centre for seafarers.

"Those pirates are the least of my concern," said 48-year-old Joel Estabio, a chief steward on an oil tanker. "I’ll take the risk rather than see my family die in hunger. If something terrible happens to me aboard any tanker, my wife and children would get something from my insurance and from my employer. Here, they get nothing."

About 40 per cent of 800,000 seafarers around the world are Filipinos. Nearly 250 sailors are being held by the pirates.