Trafficking case readied vs illegal recruiter of Indian Ocean mutineers

The government is now preparing a human trafficking case against the illegal recruiter of the nine Filipino seafarers that commandeered a fishing vessel on the Indian Ocean recently.

The seamen went to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) office yesterday and formally lodged a complaint against their recruiter, whom they identified as a certain Tony Chua.

“Our lawyers are now getting their statements. After that, OWWA, along with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Justice (DoJ), will file in court human trafficking case against the recruiter. Maybe we can do that on Monday,” OWWA administrator Marianito Roque said.

The government opted to file a human trafficking case rather than an illegal recruitment against Chua as the former carries a stiffer penalty.

The group said they decided to seize the boat and held their Taiwanese captain Jui-yin Huang hostage to oblige him to pay their salaries. Apparently, the group had had enough of their captain’s alleged maltreatment.

Jui-yin was also the owner of the fishing boat.

Roque told The STAR that OWWA “is trying to place the seafarers in the witness incentive program” as they are now bent on pursuing a case against the recruiter.

He noted that the victims would undergo training programs to prepare them for possible re-employment abroad. But the government will not provide them financial assistance as part of its policy against illegal recruitment.

Roque added that OWWA would assist them so they could go back to their families.

The nine Filipino seamen arrived Friday night aboard a United Arab Emirates flight and were met by OWWA personnel.

Roderick Sumang, Noel Cusi (not related to NAIA general manager Alfonso Cusi) Edwin Lee, Cirilo Moraleja, Delter Alday, Socrates Silar, Jose Mempin, Dennis Tolentino and Jesus Baniqued arrived 10 p.m. bringing with them their sad plight aboard MV/Ruei Thih Fa.

But another Filipino seaman, Alfredo Franco, who was on board the same vessel and had the same sad experience, was left behind pending completion of his passport and travel documents.

Vice Consul Bernadette Mendoza of the Philippine Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya said in the weekly radio program “Para sa Iyo Bayan” of Vice President Noli De Castro that Franco will be issued travel documents and will arrive in Manila on Tuesday or Wednesday. – With reports from Rudy Santos, Pia Lee Brago