The children left behind by seafarer Jhopet Platon Nilo will continue to receive government support long after his burial, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration said, as it detailed a package of financial aid extended to his family in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.
OWWA said Nilo, an active member of the agency, qualified his household for a P200,000 accidental death benefit and a P20,000 burial benefit. His family was also granted P15,000 in livelihood aid under the Education and Livelihood Assistance Program, along with educational support for one of his children.
Nilo was working aboard the MV Arosa when the vessel was hit during a drone attack while docked at the Port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine’s Odesa region on July 13, 2026. Nine other Filipino crew members from the same ship have since returned home. According to SunStar, his remains were flown in from Moldova aboard Turkish Airlines Flight TK084 on the night of August 11 — close to a month after the strike — before being turned over to relatives in Batangas.
OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne M. Caunan traveled to the family’s home to offer condolences in person, joined by Regional Welfare Office IV-A Director Rosario Burayag. The agency’s regional office coordinated the handover and transport of the remains together with the Department of Migrant Workers and the licensed manning agency involved.
The strike on the Arosa was one of a series of incidents that put Filipino crews in danger near Ukrainian ports through July. The Manila Times reported that the ship was hit while at Chornomorsk, with initial accounts pointing to the loss of one Filipino crew member. Broader monitoring by the DMW, cited by Philstar, counted hundreds of Filipino seafarers affected across more than a dozen commercial vessels caught in drone and missile activity in the northern Black Sea.
OWWA said its assistance to bereaved families does not end once a body is repatriated, pledging to stay in contact with Nilo’s household as they work through the aftermath. The agency framed the response as part of a directive from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for prompt and compassionate government service to overseas Filipino workers and their families.
