MANILA — Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Senator Erwin Tulfo said he will meet with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) this week to address the safety of around 24 Filipino seafarers currently stationed on Russian vessels.

The meeting comes amid reports that the seafarers may be exposed to danger due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“We want to determine the specific steps the DFA and DMW are taking to ensure the safety and security of these seafarers,” Tulfo said.

The number of affected Filipinos was provided by Ukrainian Ambassador Yuliia Fediv during a courtesy visit with the Senator last week. Tulfo stressed the importance of verifying whether the seafarers were directly hired or deployed through local manning agencies.

“If they were deployed through a manning agency, that company holds responsibility for their welfare should anything happen to them. However, if they were direct hires, we can appeal for them to return home immediately, as their lives are in grave danger,” he said.

During the same meeting, Tulfo also raised the case of Raymon Santos Gumangan, a Filipino reportedly captured by Ukrainian forces while serving under the Russian military. Gumangan’s family said he had been employed as a “logistics truck driver” via an online job portal but ended up entangled in the conflict.

Ambassador Fediv committed to facilitating communication between Gumangan and his family, ensuring he is treated humanely in accordance with the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.