STATEMENT OF SENATOR RICHARD J. GORDON ON THE 13 DETAINED SEAFARERS ON M/V ANGELIC POWER IN GUISHAN, CHINA

We call on our partners in the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Magsaysay Maritime Corporation (MMC) to exert all efforts necessary to repatriate the thirteen (13) Filipino seamen who have been unduly stranded and locked on board the M/V Angelic Power cargo vessel since January 2020. The ship has been detained in Guishan, China due to economic disputes between the cargo receiver and the shipowners in which our fellow Filipinos are not involved.

Unlike the Greek crew members who were repatriated on April 2021, our Filipino seafarers remain detained. They have not been allowed to disembark and have had their passports taken away. They have been suffering from dwindling supplies of food and medicine. Moreover, as they are the main wage earners, they worry about their families' personal and financial well-being, not to mention concerns as to whether or not they are protected from the COVID pandemic.

The Filipino crew should not be made to endure a situation not of their doing--the legal wrangling between the cargo receiver and the shipowners. While Filipino seafarers may be made to participate and/or testify in the legal dispute, statements such as sworn depositions or affidavits should be secured the soonest possible time so as not to violate the human rights of our compatriots. Our government, in coordination with the Chinese government, should ensure the safety, health and the immediate return of all of the stranded Filipino seafarers.

We appreciate the prompt and urgent mobilization of the DFA by Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and by the MMC, in pursuing several legal actions to defend the interests of the thirteen Filipino crew members, but we plead for more legal and diplomatic actions on this matter if only to secure their immediate return.