POEA vows aid for abandoned Pinoy seafarers in Fiji

MANILA – The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is coordinating with the families of 10 Filipino seafarers who were reportedly abandoned by the shipping company that hired them in Fiji.

“The POEA and OWWA (Overseas Workers Welfare Administration) are coordinating with the families or their next of kin on what they can provide to the needs of the seafarers,” POEA chief Bernard Olalia said in a virtual forum on Thursday.

Olalia said the Department of Foreign Affairs is working on the immediate repatriation of the Filipino workers.

At the same time, he reported that they have suspended the license of the manning agency, Able Maritime Manning Agency, for its failure to file a report on the monitoring of the seafarers.

“They failed to give an update significant report or what we call (a) regular monitoring report. That is why we issued a documentary suspension against the said agency,” he said.

Olalia noted that the manning agency has been barred from recruiting seafarers until the suspension has been lifted.

“Until and unless the documentary suspension is lifted, they are barred from deploying any seafarer,” he said, adding that the seafarers were deployed to the Pacific island nation in February last year.