EDITORIAL
Last June 12, while the rest of Filipinos were celebrating in Manila and many places in the world the 126th Independence Day, a group of working Filipinos were being attacked with drones and missiles aboard the ship MV Tutor in the Red Sea.
The Filipino seafarers' only mistake was just they were in the wrong place, or specifically, the vessel they were working in was in the wrong place at the right time.
The attackers were presumably Houthis militants from Yemen, who were reminding the world that they control the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, an important shipping route for global trade. Houthis are sympathizers of their fellow Muslim militants in Gaza, and were even able to attack Israeli territory with some missiles that flew over huge swathes of Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis do not control the government in Yemen, but they are powerful and numerous enough to control and hold on to sizable territory in that country, thanks to the support of Iran.
Iran, of course, is a key supporter of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups (there are 17 others) who are currently fighting Israeli security forces in Gaza.
That is how the present geopolitics affect the lives of Filipino seafarers and their families back homes, thousands of kilometers from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
From last November to the present, there have been three or four such incidents of attacks at sea, including kidnapping of seafarers and crew, several of whom are Filipinos. The media have not reported if any of these problems have found closure.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) condemned Friday morning the attack on the MV Tutor vessel.
“The Philippine government will take all necessary measures to secure the safety and well-being of the Filipino crew on board and ensure justice,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said.
“We call on all UN member states to protect the human rights of seafarers,” she added.
Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said that one of the 22 seafarers on board the ship is currently missing.
When these attacks by Houthis started late last year, the Philippine government through the Department of Migrant Workers.
Prior to the incident, the Philippine government had already barred Filipino seafarers from boarding vessels that were passing through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
According to the Department of Migrant Workers, manning agencies were already required to submit a written guarantee that passenger or cruise vessels with Filipino crew members would not traverse the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which have been designated as “war-like zones.”
Aside from the “affirmation letter,” the DMW also required manning agencies to submit their vessels’ detailed itineraries during the processing of crew employment contracts or before deployment.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the national government is already exhausting all efforts to bring the Filipino seafarers on board the MV Tutor vessel to Djibouti and then back home.
The MV Tutor suffered serious damage after the missile and drone attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on June 12.
Marcos said the government is already coordinating with the UK Maritime Trade Operations to find a way to bring the Filipino seafarers to Djibouti.
The West, the United Nations, and other global entities have failed to resolve the Israeli-Hamas, etc. war in Gaza, and as long as this war is current, the problem of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea will refuse to leave.