12 Pinoy survivors of sea mishap due

MANILA, Philippines - Twelve Filipino seafarers who survived the sinking of the Panamanian ship F II last week was scheduled to arrive yesterday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Charges d’ Affaires Mohd. Noordin Pendosina Lomondot said in a report to the DFA that the seamen who were on board Panamanian cargo Dany F II that sank off the coast of Tripoli, Lebanon were repatriated in two batches.

The seafarers scheduled to arrive in Manila from Beirut yesterday morning were Rafael Tarroza, Erasmo Galanza, Leoleni Babao, Rogelio Dequina, Joebert Benoman and Jowey Quinto.  Dany

The next batch is composed of Jason Mosino, Danilo Policarpio, Lezer Gepulgani, Michael Olivia, Edgardo Pucan and Jonathan Roda who were scheduled to arrive yesterday afternoon.

The DFA has arranged for the mass repatriation of at least 181 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Lebanon, Jeddah and Damascus, including the 12 seafarers.

The biggest batch of Filipinos coming home will be from Lebanon, with 144 Filipinos sheltered at the Filipino Workers Resource Center and Caritas arriving in two batches.

The first batch of 39 adults and three minors will arrive on Dec. 28. The second batch of 105 adults will arrive the following day.

The DFA said the tickets of all OFWs coming from Lebanon were bought using the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) funds.

There are also 25 Filipinos arriving from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and four coming from Damascus, Syria today. They were deported due to immigration-related offenses.   – Pia Lee-Brago