Palace concerned over abduction of 11 Filipinos in West Africa

“We are concerned about the kidnapping and (Labor) Secretary Bello is handling it,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday. (File Photo: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson/Facebook)

MANILA — Malacañang expressed concern over the abduction of 11 Filipinos in West Africa, two of them were kidnapped in Togo and nine in Benin last week.

“We are concerned about the kidnapping and (Labor) Secretary Bello is handling it,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through its embassy in Abuja, received a report of another piracy incident in West Africa that resulted in the kidnapping of two Filipinos in Togo.

Reports showed that the unidentified Filipinos, along with a Greek and a Georgian, were brought by their abductors on board a Greek oil tanker, the Elka Aristotle, 11 miles from the deep sea shipping port of Lome.

A security guard was also shot in the incident, which happened about 3 a.m. (Togo time), the report added.

Last Saturday, a similar abduction took place when pirates boarded the Norwegian-flagged M/V Bonita and abducted nine of its Filipino crew members.

The DFA assured that the government is “actively tackling the development of the case with the embassy in Abuja continuing its coordination with relevant authorities to ensure the safety and security of the Filipino seafarers.”

The Philippine government also continues to “maintain close contact with the seafarers’ manning agency and will provide updates as necessary.”