Panayam kay Usec. Eduardo De Vega, DFA (November 22, 2023) | UB
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Transcript
00:00 Good morning to all of you in Myanmar. We are talking to the Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega.
00:06 Good morning to you, Yusek.
00:08 Good morning.
00:10 Yusek, how are the 6 Filipinos who were evacuated from Myanmar? Have you talked to them?
00:16 Not me, but our staff in Yangon and the embassy in Bangkok who helped them.
00:26 Actually, there should be 6, but only 4 were evacuated. There are 2 more who are still being evacuated.
00:34 So, the 4 are in good condition.
00:39 Are they going home to the Philippines? And if so, when will that be, Yusek?
00:45 They should be home. The 4 were home yesterday.
00:50 So, this is what we are going to do. We want to explain that these 6 are among the trafficking victims.
01:01 There are still trafficking victims.
01:03 But the trafficking victims, if you remember, are at the border of Thailand and Myanmar.
01:09 This is in the north where there's a war, near China, the Shan State, the state of Shan.
01:15 But most of the Filipinos in Yangon or Naypyidaw, there are a few hundred of them, they don't have anything to hide. There's no war there.
01:26 Do we have a record, Yusek, of how many Filipinos are being trafficked in Gulo Samyan Mar?
01:33 We are sure of two more. That's our record.
01:38 The important thing is, the ones being trafficked are in places where we did not give them authorization to work.
01:48 Those who were able to go to Myanmar, those who were in Yangon and a few other places.
01:55 So there's at least two more. We will report to you when we were able to help them get out.
02:02 What happened to the other two and the 4 who are not yet included?
02:06 The other six should... one way is to go through China and then China to Bangkok.
02:15 The problem is, they are wanted in China.
02:19 Their scamming operations have affected Chinese citizens.
02:24 So we found a way to go through China and then go directly to Bangkok.
02:33 They are from Bangkok and they are being trafficked by the Philippines.
02:36 I will report back to you on this.
02:38 Yusek, regarding the group of Huthi, the Yemeni, in a ship in the Red Sea,
02:44 have you confirmed if there are any Filipino crew on the ship because you are the ones who are appearing in the news?
02:50 Yes, there are 17 Filipinos in the Manning Agency.
02:56 There are also other diplomats. So we will handle this.
03:03 This is not the first time that there is a hostage.
03:06 This is our first... because this has a connection to the war in Hamas and Israel
03:18 because they marketed this ship because it's Israeli owned by another Japanese company.
03:23 So this is May 17.
03:26 17. Have you received any update on the situation of these 17 Filipinos?
03:32 What we received is that the police said that they have no foreign diplomatic partners.
03:40 We will meet with the various agencies of the government, including the DMW, OAS, Marina, and MAMEA.
03:55 We will talk about this situation with them.
03:59 Usually, we do diplomatic presentations and we talk to the government.
04:04 The so-called hostage deal is being maintained between Israel and Hamas.
04:10 Do you have any information on when the two sides will be released?
04:17 There is confirmation. The question is when it will happen.
04:24 It's within the next 24 hours now.
04:27 The first news is that you are targeting women and children.
04:34 We have two possible hostages.
04:40 One is a woman, a dual citizen, a Filipino-Israeli.
04:43 The other man, I'm almost sure he's a hostage because he saw the video of his wife.
04:50 Israel knows that we are hoping that as soon as possible, the Filipino citizens will be included in the first release.
05:04 But their first priority is the Israeli children and their mothers.
05:11 Anyway, this is a good sign if there is a truce, if there is a pause in the hostages.
05:19 We will know before the end of the day today, Philippine time, if this deal will continue.
05:26 It will happen within the next few days, a few hostages per day.
05:30 Let's see. Hopefully, it will continue.
05:36 Lastly, your message to the family of the 17 Filipinos who are being carried in a ship in the Red Sea.
05:44 Of course, they are worried about the safety of their loved ones. Your message.
05:51 According to the instructions of our President, he is doing everything he can to ensure their safety.
06:03 We will not let them down.
06:08 The safety of our countrymen abroad is a paramount policy and priority of our government.
06:17 So, be strong and we will find a way to help them.
06:23 Okay. Thank you very much, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega. Good morning to you.
06:29 Good morning.
06:30 Thank you very much.
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