MANILA, Philippines — Four Filipino seafarers are among the crew members of a chemical tanker who pirates in the Gulf of Guinea recently kidnaped, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said on Wednesday.
“Doon sa pinasok ng mga pirata, meron tayong mga Filipino seafarers. Ang report na natanggap namin, mayroong apat,” Bello said in an online press briefing.
(There are Filipino seafarers aboard the chemical tanker raided by pirates. According to reports we received, there were four Filipinos there.)
Bello said the Filipino seafarers have yet to be released but added that they seem to be well.
He said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is negotiating to release the kidnapped seafarers.
According to reports from international media, the pirates kidnapped 15 crew members from the chemical tanker in the Gulf of Guinea after boarding the vessel off Benin’s coast on March 11.
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