Twenty-one Filipino crew members of MV Tutor, who were rescued after a recent attack by Houthis in the southern Red Sea, arrived safely in the Philippines on Monday.
The seafarers, accompanied by Labor Attaché Hector Cruz of the Department of Migrant Workers, arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 via Golf Air flight GF 154 at exactly 11:10 a.m.
They were met in the plane by Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac and Health Secretary Ted Herbosa, as well as Tingog Representative and House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs Chair Jude Acidre.
Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain Anne Jalando-on Louis met the seafarers at Bahrain International Airport on Sunday shortly before they embarked on their journey back to Manila.
Upon arrival, the seafarers were taken to immigration for documentation before the Department of Health subjected them to debriefing due to the trauma they suffered from the Houthi rebels’ attacks on the MV Tutor.
The seafarers received financial assistance of P230,000 from the government upon their arrival from their ordeal in the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden. Before coming home, the seafarers were also each given 192 Bahraini dinars (equivalent to P30,000).
The aforementioned financial assistance includes P150,000 from the House of Representatives Office of the Speaker, P50,000 from the Department of Migrant Workers, P10,000 from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and P20,000 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.The bodies of three Filipino workers who died in a fire in al-Mangaf, Kuwait have been repatriated to Manila.
Meanwhile, the remains of Jesus Lopez, Edwin Petras Petilla, and Jeffrey Fabrigas Cayubay arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport – Terminal 3 onboard Emirates Airlines flight EK332 around 4:21 p.m.
Government officials including DMW secretary Cacdac and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration administrator Arnel Ignacio were present to assist the victims’ families at the airport.
The repatriation was carried out in accordance with a directive from President Marcos Jr. to bring the workers’ remains back to the Philippines as soon as possible.
The fire, which occurred at around 4:30 a.m. on June 12, affected at least 11 overseas Filipino workers in a building that housed around 200 foreign workers.
According to a report by Agence France Presse (AFP), the fire in the heavily migrant-populated Mangaf area left 56 people injured.
