Metro Manila, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered agencies to immediately provide assistance, benefits, and insurance proceeds to families of two Filipino seafarers killed in an attack on a Saudi-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, Malacañang said Thursday, Sept. 3.
Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac had reported the deaths to the president, who immediately issued directives to help the families of the two overseas Filipino workers killed in the security incident involving the crude oil tanker SIDR.
She said Marcos also expressed condolences to the families, who came from Cabuyao, Laguna and Daanbantayan, Cebu.
[Translation: First of all, the president and the administration extend their condolences to the families of the two seafarers from Cabuyao, Laguna, and Daanbantayan, Cebu.]
The president ordered Cacdac and other concerned agencies to make sure the families receive all forms of assistance.
“At nag-utos na po ang pangulo agad-agad na tulungan ang mga pamilya ng dalawa nating kababayan na nasawi at ibigay ang lahat ng kailangan nila pati ang benepisyo, compensation, insurance proceeds na naaangkop na dapat ibigay sa ating kababayan na nasawi. At hindi po pababayaan ng gobyerno, ng pamahalaan iyong pamilyang naiwan ng dalawa nating kababayan.”
[Translation: The president immediately ordered agencies to help the families of our two compatriots who died and to provide everything they need, including the appropriate benefits, compensation, and insurance proceeds. The government will not abandon the families left behind by our two countrymen.]
The Department of Migrant Workers earlier said the SIDR was struck by unidentified projectiles on Aug. 31 while crossing the Strait of Hormuz. Sixteen Filipino seafarers were on board the vessel. Two were killed, while the remaining 14 survived and are safe off the coast of Oman, where authorities are arranging their immediate repatriation.
