17 Filipinos freed by Somali Pirates: 105 still hostaged

This is from the Tribune.

When a US ship is seized there is a media blitz, when over a hundred Filipinos are held hostage it is ho hum in the western mainstream media. This reinforces ideas about who is important and who is not in the world. The Philippines is the worlds largest supplier of crews with over a third of a million sailors around the globe!

17 Pinoys freed by Somali pirates; 105 still hostaged
By Michaela P. del Callar
04/18/2009
Somali pirates have freed 17 Filipino seamen on board a Greek vessel Wednesday after almost a month in captivity, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said yesterday.
The release of the sailors brought down to 105 the total number of Filipino seafarers on board seven ships being held by Somali gunmen. Hijacked ships are anchored off Somalia ’s territorial waters.
The MV Titan was seized by heavily
armed pirates last March 19 after sailing through the dangerous waters of Gulf of Aden .
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Esteban Conejos did not say if ransom was paid to secure the Filipinos’ freedom.
It was known in the past that shipowners pay huge amounts to ransom off their crew and hijacked vessels in Somalia .
Conejos said that, as a policy, the government does not negotiate directly nor pay ransom to the kidnappers.
“We coordinate the actions of foreign governments, the local manning agencies in the Philippines and the latter’s foreign principals in our collective efforts toward the early and safe release of the Filipino crew,” Conejos said.
Since 2006, a total of 227 Filipino seamen who were abducted in Somalia have been released without any intervention from the Philippine government, Conejos said.
The Philippines is the world’s leading supplier of crew, with over 350,000 sailors manning oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide.
Undeterred by a US military operation that rescued an American ship captain over the weekend, pirates have continued to commandeer ships off the Gulf of Aden .
Conejos said the government is mulling the enforcement of a travel ban to Filipino seafarers in Somalia to avoid exposing them to the risk of being kidnapped.
“We are reiterating our proposal for a ban but we have yet to discuss this with concerned government agencies such as the Labor Department and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA). We will also consult manning agencies here in Manila ,” Conejos said.
In the meantime, he said Manila has already appealed to shipping lines carrying Filipino crewmen to stay clear by at least 200 nautical miles off the 3,300-kilometer coastline of Somalia.
He also said that all commercial ships must stay within the designated coordinates of the Maritime Security Patrol Area (MSPA) being patrolled by the naval and air assets of a multi-national military task force led by the United States .
“We asked them to ensure that their ships traverse the affected areas only along this security corridor and preferably to do so in convoy formation,” Conejos said, adding that the government is soon to dispatch a Philippine naval liaison officer to the combined maritime forces in Manama, Bahrain to monitor the condition of abducted Filipino sailors.
There is no existing central government in Somalia . Since the United Nations withdrew in March 1995 without restoring a functioning government, little progress has been made.
Aside from the autonomous, broadly self-governed enclaves of Somaliland and Puntland in the northern parts of the country, over the past 18 years, Somalia has suffered under “governance” by a succession of tribal factions, warlords, Islamist groups, and foreign interventions.
With instability in Somalia , hijacking for profit off its waters has thrived over the years.
Despite the risks, private companies still see the seas surrounding the Horn of Africa as a cost-effective means for moving goods with as many as 20,000 ships travel these waters annually.
Meanwhile, state-based Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported that the Philippines is stepping up precautionary measures as piracy off Gulf of Aden-Somalia heightens
With the number of maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden-Somalia-Yemen area unabated since it escalated in April last year, the Philippine government has stepped up its precautionary policies on sea-based work deployment, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said today.
In the first quarter of this year alone, nine vessels with Filipino crew members have been intercepted by Somali pirates, and four more were seized in the first half of April,
The DFA is reiterating its recommendation to would-be seafarers against getting employment with agencies whose vessels are passing through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden-Somalia area, Conejos said.
Conejos noted that DoLE has issued at least two directives to manning agencies of vessels plying the perilous Gulf of Aden.
Conejos said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has recommended for vessels to: keep a good lookout, and if approached, run at full speed and use evasive maneuvers and fire hoses to repel anyone who attempts to board their vessels.
The Philippines has also brought the matter of the menace of piracy to the attention of the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization, Conejos said.
So far, three resolutions aimed at strengthening the efforts of international forces in fighting piracy have been passed by the UN Security Council. The latest, UNSC Resolution 1851, passed on Dec. 16, 2008, authorizes hot pursuit by the combined international force into mainland Somalia.
At least 3,000 vessels ply the Gulf of Aden each year, and one-third of their crew members are Filipinos. With PNA