The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) clarified on Saturday that reports claiming three Filipino seafarers were killed in the Red Sea attack by Houthi rebels remain unverified, as search and rescue efforts continue.
DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said the government is still working to confirm the fate of 13 missing Filipino crew members who were aboard the MV Eternity C, which was attacked near Yemen. The vessel was carrying a total of 21 Filipinos.
“We strongly believe that they are still alive,” Olalia said during a forum in Quezon City. He cited the rescue of eight other crew members who had managed to survive for more than 48 hours at sea.
Olalia stressed the importance of interviewing the rescued seafarers to determine what exactly happened during the attack, including how many may have died. “We need to know if anyone perished during the missile strike, or if some are just missing and unaccounted for,” he added.
The DMW is closely coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of National Defense to locate the remaining crew. Olalia revealed that one of the complications is the unknown number of Filipinos possibly captured by the Houthi rebels.
“We know some were taken, but we don’t know how many. That’s one of our biggest challenges,” he said.
In a related development, Olalia confirmed that the 11 Filipino seafarers aboard another vessel, the MV Magic Seas, which was also targeted in a separate Houthi attack, are expected to arrive in the Philippines on Saturday night.
Both ships were attacked in the Red Sea by the Houthi rebels, who have ramped up maritime assaults since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
