Exploiting children, although Valencia obviously thinks this is cute. A Filipina and a Bangladeshi boy pictured in his Munting Nayon leaflet begging for donations.

Mr. Valencia himself is on a fund-raising campaign, as his  Munting Nayon school, which  is one of his main  sources of income  (he has never held a regular job nor a business) is  in dire straits. It had been ordered  closed January 2010 by the Education Ministry because its poor facilities threaten  children’s safety.

Valencia has been raising funds, more than the nursery reasonably needs, by bleeding-heart appeals for money from Greeks and NGO, even stressing that 20% of its students are foreigners. He is deceiving donors as he portrays Munting Nayon as the only kindergarten for Filipinos in Athens when in fact Kaphilca’s kindergarten has been operating since 1997, and recognized by the Ministry of Education.

The amount he says the school needs is astounding. The  Kasapi Hellas’  website  http://www.kasapi.gr/04/munting-nayon-letter-of-appeal/#more-14) says, “we will have to carry out repairs to the existing building at a cost of over 180,000 euros.” That is a huge, suspicious amount for repairs, even in Athens.

snapshot of Valencia appeal for cash for his school

Valencia’s website even encourages donors to directly send their donation to what could be his or his wife’s bank account. “Support our campaign,” the website says, “by depositing the amount to the following  account, ” which suspiciously is unnamed: National Bank of Greece Account Number: 100/296034-60. Valencia has not submitted to the nursery’s other officers nor to Kasapi Hellas an accounting of donations he has so far received.

AN OPEN LETTER TO FILIPINO PARENTS OF SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN IN ATHENS

1 June 2009

Sa mga mahal kong kababayan sa Athens,

As the Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines in Greece, it is my duty to provide our countrymen accurate information I may have access to, especially as such information involves their welfare. Not to do so would mean that I am m not doing my duty as your ambassador.

In the past year I have received many inquiries regarding the legitimacy a “Philippine Cultural and Educational Association” (PCEA)  whether it is indeed a school authorized by the Philippine government, the Greek government, or both.

The queries are quite valid and need to be answered, since I had been informed that the students are charged from €100 to €150 a month each, which would total €10,000 a month in income for PCEA.

Our countrymen needed to know the legitimacy of this entity, as indeed, they would be wasting their money if the grades of PCEA are neither recognized by our Department of Education and by the Greek Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs.

I cannot reply to such queries that “I don’t know”, as this would mean dereliction of my duty, for which I can even be charged.  The queries are not different from a query back in Manila if a recruitment agency is legitimate or not.  If the POEA for instance knows that a particular agency is not registered, its failure to tell OFWs that this agency is bogus means dereliction of its duty.

Therefore, I inquired from both our DepEd  and from the Greek  education ministry  (coursed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)  on the status of an entity carrying any of the following names: Philippine Cultural and Educational Academy, Philippine Cultural and Educational Association, and Cultural and Educational Association of Filipinos Residing in Greece.

The replies of the Philippine and Greek ministries of education are the same:   PCEA is not authorized to operate as a school in Greece.

Both the Philippine and Greek authorities noted that only the Katipunan Philippines Cultural Academy (known as the Philippine School in Greece) is recognized both by the Philippine and Greek authorities. I was also informed by the DepEd that no entity going by these names have filed any petition with it for recognition as a school.

The DepEd also specifically noted: “The grades of any student studying in PCEA will not be recognized by the DepEd or any duly authorized school in the Philppines.”

While you are enjoined to seek your own legal advice on this matter, I was also informed that according to Greek law (L.1566/1985, art. 2) primary education (six years of elementary school and 3 years of high school) is mandatory for all children residing in Greece. Foreigners living in Greece are not exempted from this provision.

According to the same law, parents who do not observe this rule will be prosecuted.  The law warns only pupils who attend schools recognized by the Ministry of National Education meet this requirement.

I hope this accurate information would guide your decisions involving the education of your children in Greece.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,

RIGOBERTO TIGLAO

PHILIPPINE AMBASADOR TO GREECE

Would this make up the 200 Fiilipino workers Mr. Valencia claims protested against Tiglao at the Embassy?

The  demonstration  by some 30 people   10 October at the embassy in Athens was actually part of a smear  campaign against me  by Marcos “refugee” Jose Valencia – a professional anti-government agitator — and  the operator of an  unauthorized school for Filipino children ,  so that they can continue fooling  OFWs in Athens, and  bullying the Embassy through black propaganda.

Mr. Jose Valencia in fact has made it a career, and a profession, to use OFWs  to undertake demonstrations against  nearly all Philippine ambassadors in his wish to force  them to recognize him as the sole representative of  OFWs in Athens.  He even undertook  a demonstration against President Fidel Ramos, during his state visit in Athens in 1997, which unfairly portrayed the country as a nation ruled by dictators.

While Mr. Valencia, who led the group, raised ridiculous, totally false issues against me, they couldn’t hide one of its major unscrupulous aims.   One Mrs. Imelda Goutas,  married to a well-off Greek lawyer and her relatives were the most vitriolic during the protest,  even hurling curses against Embassy personnel.  Mrs.Goutas owns and operates the so-called PCEA “school”, which has been operating since 2006 without any permit from both the Philippine and Greek government.   Mrs. Goutas has been lobbying to take me out as ambassador, because she thinks she can pressure a new envoy to recognize PCEA. She refuses to believe that an ambassador has no authority to do so.

Mr. Valencia heads Kasapi Hellas, which unfortunately has degenerated into his own personal gang, which only he commands.  Mr. Valencia has been claiming to Greeks that he represents all Filipinos in Greece, even if his Kasapi has declined to just two dozen members. There is a confederation of Filipino associations in Greece, representing about 10,000 OFWs, with which the Embassy holds monthly meetings.

Mr.Valencia has been able to live in Greece and enjoy European standards of living since 1985 by telling Greek authorities to this day that he is a refugee from the Marcos dictatorship – which ended 24 years ago.  That is a very unpatriotic excuse for insisting to live in comfort in a foreign country, as that portrays our country as still under military dictatorship. He has effectively denounced being a Filipino by refusing to secure a Philippine passport, offered to him by all Philippine ambassadors here.

In contrast to OFWs whom he claims he represents, Valencia has never had a regular job all his life. He cannot explain how he can live in Athens without a job or a business.  It appears therefore that his income in Greece is coming  from membership fees in Kasapi, donations by European NGOs to Kasapi,  earnings from the events like the May ‘Santacruzan’ he organizes, and to his kindergarten school his wife runs.  These funds are not audited by anyone else except the Valencia couple.

Mrs. Goutas threw all her support and resources for Mr. Valencia’s  demo, as only the “recognition” of the school by a new ambassador could reverse the school sharp drop in enrollment in this schoolyear that started last month, as Filipinos here have realized that because it does not have the permits to operate as a school,  their children’s grades will not be recognized in the Philippines nor in Greece.  Mr. Valencia’s kindergarten similarly was determined by authorities in January this year  as not meeting safety requirements. Mr. Valencia however has been exploiting this problem by telling charitable Greeks and organizations,  that the school needs €180,000, and that they should deposit funds into his bank account.

There is only one school for Filipinos in Athens recognized by both Philippine and Greek authorities, the Katipunan Philippines Cultural Academy (Kaphilca) , which President Ramos himself ordered set up in 1997.( Click here for Education Department’s categorical statement  that Mrs. Goutas school, PCEA, is not authorized to operate as a Philippine school.)

Mrs. Goutas’ PCEA has been unable to get the necessary permits since  its poor facilities and personnel could not meet the minimum standards  set by either our Education Department or by the Greek government’s Ministry of Education. Mrs. Thalia Dragona, the official who only recently took the post in charge of foreign schools in the Ministry of Education, in a meeting with me 12 October informed me that the Ministry’s inspectors had recommended that the school be closed in 2008, and that she was surprised that the school is still operating.

Mrs. Goutas is calculating that the school can be made ”legal” if the Philippine ambassador recognizes the school as a legitimate one. However, I have repeatedly told Mrs. Goutas that I cannot do this, as it is our Department of Education and Greece’s Ministry of Education that have this authority.

The ambassador had been resisting her  pressure, especially as parents of the school’s children had been angrily complaining that when they returned to the Philippines, they find that their children’s schooling are not recognized by any Philippine school.

A school can generate a lot of money for its owners if run unscrupulously.   Students of PCEA are charged a minimum of €120 to €170 (roughly P6,000 to P9,000)  per month, so the school’s revenues could reach a minimum of €12,000, for huge net profit for its operators  – if it scrimps on  facilities and pay the teachers  only €700, which is below the required minimum in Greece.

Because they couldn’t stomach any longer the Mrs. Goutas’ questionable  practices, all of the nine teachers who originally made up PCEA’s staff have left it, even if  she  threatened  them that her husband lawyer holds all the documentation for their stay in Greece.

A key officer of PCEA, Mrs. Chari Bataan, left PCEA this year in disgust over the fact that Mrs. Goutas totally disregarded the vote of the parent-teachers’ association for her to replace Mrs. Goutas as PCEA chairman. Another key member, the auditor Mrs. Ida Herico, left the school as she couldn’t stomach Mrs. Goutas’ insistence that she sign PCEA’s financial report, even as she was not given any information on where its income was going to.

(There have been other projects of Mrs. Goutas that are questionable. .  Last year, she conducted a ‘Popularity Contest’ by which the student for each grade who can give the most money to the school will be the winner. The school’s former auditor claimed Mrs. Goutas generated more than €10,000 from this project, but has not reported how the proceeds were disbursed.)

An OFW protester? An amiga of Valencia's wife, has a money-remittance business in Athens, married to a British.

A corrupt lawyer in Manila, which claims to be with DepEd, had told Mrs. Goutas that he would be able to get DepEd recognition of the school, only if the ambassador is taken out of his post. “I can bribe or threaten any ambassador there, except Tiglao,” the DepEd official said.  Mrs. Goutas, according to a former board member of the school, has a two-year contract with this official that  started 2008 for P20,000 a month to secure the DepEd recognition. The contract ends this year, so it is imperative that I be removed.

Other issues raised in Mr. Valencia’s press release (download his press release here):

That the ambassador’s residence has “a swimming pool in a posh village in a suburb of Athens.”

This is a total lie.

There is no swimming pool in the residence. The residence is located five minutes away from the Embassy, the smallest ambassador’s residences in the area. I moved there only to take advantage of the adjacent garden (not a part of the residence, but the landlord’s) for our reception for Independence Day, in order reduce the Embassy’s costs for hotel facilities.  I often drive the embassy car or my motorcycle to skimp on gasoline costs and reduce the car’s rate of depreciation.

“He has been spotted by OFWs touring the fabulous islands of Greece like Corfu.”

I was in Corfu a month ago in order to interview a candidate for a position of Honorary Consul for Corfu.   I have a program to setting up Honorary Consulates all over Greece as this is the most effective way to provide assistance to OFWs in these far-flung areas.

So far, I have succeeded in establishing honorary consulates in Patra, Crete, and soon, Piraeus.  Not only as a person keenly interested in Western civilization,  but as an envoy who should  know his assigned territory, I indeed have visited several islands – but all, except Corfu, on my vacation leave and my expense.

“He has nothing to show in terms of performance after more than 4 years.”

This is a total lie.

Barely six months after I arrived in 2006, I managed to convince the Greek government to set up its Embassy in Manila, an accomplishment which eluded my four predecessors’ efforts for nearly twenty year. It corrected a diplomatically anomalous situation in which our country has an Embassy in Athens, but Greece didn’t in Manila.

The embassy has been a big boon to our OFWs. Before it was set up in Manila, OFWs had to spend a lot to get their visas not only for the plane fare to Jakarta, where Greece had its embassy covering our country. They were victimized the minute they landed in Jakarta by fixers and even taxi-drivers.

How did I manage to do so? By establishing friendships with the Greek officialdom and its elite, which after all still often determine government decisions.  Now Mr. Valencia condemns me for “hobnobbing with social elites.”

Consular services have been improved vastly, with the consular offices open regularly on certain Sundays.  Two major Independence Day celebrations, one a formal one in the evening and one a whole-day fiesta style for the Filipino community.  For many years, the fiesta was held in a basketball court under the searing summer heat. Since I arrived, I managed to convince Greek ship-owners to provide us with huge tents to shade our countrymen. There are regular monthly meetings with the Filipino community, which Mr. Valencia and his organization have totally snubbed.

My performance in fact is an open book,  as I have posted documentation of these in our website www.athenspe.net.

I “snub Filipinos with problems. A case in point is a Filipina who has been detained in the national state penitentiary since March 2010, who has not received even a visit from any of his embassy staff.”

This is a total lie.

My staff as well as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) has actually been complaining that I have been too “accommodating” in helping all Filipinos with problems. A case in point: We rescued just last month a 22-year old Filipina prostituted in a town (Glyfada) near Athens, after she sent us an SOS through our website (which I set up).  My staff risked their lives in undertaking surveillance work.  We could not publicize this, especially its details, as the girl’s father begged us not to do so as it would be embarrassing to their family.

The Filipina Mr. Valencia is referring to who has been in a national penitentiary since March 2010 is in fact the mother of a locally-hired staff, who is very close to me.  This staff expressly told me that their lawyer expressly requested that she not be helped by the Embassy as “this might complicate matters.”  After the lawyer failed to release her mother, I disregarded my staff’s request, and ordered the Embassyt to throw all out support for his mother. They have visited the lady several times already. It is sensitive, complicated case as the complainants are Filipinas who claim they had been swindled in an illegal recruitment scheme.  The lady though has denied the charges.

That I and the Embassy “did not help 12 Filipino seafarers marooned in their floating prison for almost a year from July 2009 to first quarter of 2010, their salaries unpaid…because of the help of Filipino  migrants led by KASAPI HELLAS the organization of Filipino migrants in Greece.”

This is a total lie.

The case he is referring to is that of Filipino crewman of the ship Aeta Sierra, and the complete account of this case has been posted in our website, particularly at http://www.athenspe.net/?s=Aeta+Sierra.  The Embassy, particularly the Philippine Overseas Labor Office gave all out support for the crew, and even provided a lawyer for a few of the crewman. Mr. Valencia in fact endangered the crewmen’s case when he convinced one crewman to reject the legal services by the International Confederation of Transport Unions, the most powerful federation for seamen in the world. The ICTFU felt insulted and threatened to entirely pull out of the case if not for the POLO’s intervention.  My staff several times visited the ship – docked in the open sea to save costs – to provide foodstuffs and drinks to the crew to check on their situation.

I have not moved “against the proliferation of illegal drugs like shabu from the Philippines that is victimizing mostly innocent young Filipinos.”

This is a total lie.

In fact, it was I who initiated the campaign against illegal drugs among Filipinos in Athens early this year, despite fears expressed by some in the Filipino community that this would  risk even our lives, as the drug-pushers are connected to ruthless, organized crime.  The Filipino community can attest to this as I devoted several meetings with them solely for this purpose, and even an entire issue of our newsletter. I sent a letter to our National Bureau of Investigation asking it to send an official to Athens help embassy deal with the problem. We have determined who the identities of a few of the pushers. Unfortunately we still building up a case, necessary to convince the Greek police to act against these pushers.

I am challenging Mr. Valencia to debate before the Filipino community on these issues before I leave Athens. He did not accept a similar challenge I made in 2006 when he first started criticizing my person and the Embassy. I hope he has the guts to do so now for the sake of truth.

I will answer any questions you might have. Contact me through my email tiglao.inquirer@gmail.com

Ambassador Tiglao was accompanied by celebrity Ilias Psinakis and his brother Yorgos Psinakis, both of whom have been active in developing relations between Greece and the Philippines.

The mayor handed to the ambassador his formal invitation for the Mayor of Manila Alfredo Lim to visit Athens in the fall to sign a protocol establishing Athens and Manila as sister cities. The Mayor expressed his admiration for the Filipino community in Athens, whom he said he has the highest respect for.

For a video of the meeting, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2eHTcYqywg

Ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao and Madame Getsy Tiglao

The Philippine Embassy marked the 112^th anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine independence with two major, well-attended events in Athens:  a fiesta-type celebration with the Filipino community at the Fokianos basketball court at Zappeio on 06 June 2010 and a Diplomatic Reception for the diplomatic corps at the prestigious King George Palace on 11 June 2010, both in central Athens.

Filipino Community (See Photos in Features Section)

The whole-day celebration with the Filipino community at Zappeio began with the parade of banners of various Filipino community associations in Greece and the singing of the Philippine national anthem. His Excellency Ambassador Rigoberto D.Tiglao led Philippine Embassy officials and delivered the Philippine Independence Day message.

A huge marquee and three big tents covered the venue as protection from the sun and rain.  Athens News, the Philippine Embassy’s communications sponsor for this event, distributed free newspapers and flyers during the event. Coca Cola, Emirates Airlines and the Accredited Community Partners (ACP) served as the major sponsors for the Filipino community event.

The different Filipino organizations showed off their rich and colorful costumes during the parade. Students of the Philippine School in Greece (formerly known as KAPHILCA or Katipunan Philippines Cultural Academy) and representatives of various Filipino organizations performed cultural numbers consisting of songs and dances on the stage specifically built and assembled by the embassy for the cultural presentations.

Known Filipino singer Ms Tina Paner sponsored by Globe Asiatique sang during the occasion.

Over 1,000 people, Filipinos, Greeks and other foreign citizens participated in this year’s Independence Day celebration at Zappeio. (For Photos, see feature page>)

Diplomatic Reception (See Photos at Features Section)

About 350 guests from the diplomatic corps, Greek officialdom and business led by one of Greece’s biggest shipping company Tsakos attended the diplomatic reception hosted by Ambassador Rigoberto D. Tiglao and Mrs. Getsy Tiglao in the grand ballroom of the King George Palace. Mayor of Athens Nikitas Kaklamanis, Deputy Chief of Protocol Kyriakos Amiridis and the Chief of Police of the Greek parliament Evangelos Agelis led Greek senior officials who attended the embassy’s Diplomatic Reception

The embassy also invited to the reception leaders of the various Filipino community organizations in Greece.

The reception served a combination of western and Filipino cuisine which the embassy’s foreign guests appreciated very much. They partook of the sumptuous feast of native Filipino dishes such as adobo, fried vegetable lumpia, longganisa, barbecue, buchi, siopao, puto and leche flan.

Filipino music played throughout the event and a video presentation on Philippine culture and economy ran for the duration of the reception. Tourism brochures and other information materials were also given to the guests.

Greece’s premier Star Television Channel together with its famous television personality Ilias Psinakis arrived to interview Ambassador Tiglao.

Athens Mayor Nikita Kaklamanis greets the Ambassador

With Greek celebrity Mr. Ilias Psinakis

Ambassador Tiglao congratulates Greek President Papoulias at the Presidential Palace.

Philippine Ambassador to Athens Rigoberto Tiglao congratulated 17 March 2010  His Excellency Karolos Papoulias for his reelection by Parliament as President of Greece  in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace. President Papoulias is a veteran leader of the ruling  PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) party.  He is very much respected by all political parties that he was also President even under the previous administration of the New Democracy Party, which lost in the October elections.

Ambassador Tiglao also delivered  the congratulatory letter to President Papoulias of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

President Arroyo’s letter reads as follows.

25 March 2010

Excellency,

On behalf of the people and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, I wish to convey to Your Excellency and the Greek people our warmest greetings on the occasion of the 189^th anniversary of the Declaration of the Independence of the Hellenic Republic.

The Philippines joins Greece, the birthplace of democracy, in celebrating the common heritage of freedom as it continues to resonate throughout the modern world.  Greek Independence Day also serves as an occasion to honor the legacy of liberty that unites our two countries.

The lasting friendship that our nations have forged is founded on the common ideals of justice and dignity of every human being.  We acknowledge the contribution that the Greeks have made to the Filipino nation and look forward to the deepening of our ties in the coming years.

Accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest esteem and consideration.

(Signed)

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

President of the Republic of the Philippines

The Aetea Sierra

For the Filipino community’s information, follows are the facts regarding the plight of the Aetea Sierra’s Filipino crew.   At the outset of this episode, the embassy had pursued the path to immediate repatriation (for more background on the case, see previous article (Aetea Sierra crew’s plight nears end, 26 Dec. 2009):

1. As soon as the Embassy was informed of the Aetea Sierra’s plight, on 30 September 2009,   it dispatched a  letter to POEA the following day requesting  plane tickets for the crew under the Migrant Workers Act;
2. Crewmembers were informed of the letter and requested to just wait for the tickets per assurance from the Phil. Manning Agent;
3. While waiting for the tickets, there was constant communication with them; questions like if they have enough food and other basic needs; informed us that such items are being provided by the ship owner;
4. We offered to  shelter them in the FWRC in the meantime  if their condition would prompt them to do so;
5. 2^nd Week of October, Engr. Hantic, one of the crewmen,  sent a text message that they would not leave the ship until their salaries-in-arrears are not paid;
6. On October 26, 2009, POLO team headed by the LABATT together with Atty. Pavlakis, a lawyer who has had a good track record in handling cases of Filipino seamen,  went to the ship and talked with the crew, eleven of whom had already engaged the services of an ITF lawyer to pursue the case;
7. Engr. Hantic however declined the services of the ITF lawyer, so the Embassy offered to him the services of  Atty. Pavlakis, who had been successful in handing many cases of Filipino seamen; and,
8. During that time, the seafarers were informed that their salaries and other money claims can be filed in the Philippines as their manning agent is liable under Philippine labor law.
9. The Embassy and the Labor Office  exerted every effort to keep the lines of communication with the crew open, and were assured that they were getting the necessary provisions on the ship.

Piraeus court issues order favorable to the 12 seafarers

The Piraeus court 21December 2009 ruled in favor of the  12 seamen.

The lawyers of the 12 Filipino seamen on board mv Aetea Sierra also confirmed that the ship is set for auction on 17 February 2010 to pay the wages awarded by the court in its order of 21 December 2009 unless the ship owner, Aetea Sierra Maritime Company, Ltd.  pay the seamen before that date.

In its order of 21 December, the Court of First Instance of Piraeus directed the immediate payment of 132,963.32 euros (about $190,000) to the 12 seamen, as follows:

The court based its award on prevailing Greek standards (law and collective agreements), not on the POEA contracts signed by the seamen, and covered the period from the start of their contract up to 9 November 2009. Comparing the award to the original demand of six of the seamen:

For higher ranked seamen, however, the wage differentials are less as one can see above.

According to the lawyers, Attys. Thanasis Alykatoras of the ITF and Christos Moschos of Pavlakis-Moschos Law Offices, the court also ordered that the additional amount of 195,000 euros (or $277,000) be secured to be collected for the seamen at a later stage of the case.

The Filipino crewmembers are  waiting for the arrival of their replacements so that they could return to the Philippines and rejoin their families. Meanwhile, their wages will accrue, based on the favorable Greek standards, until they are fully paid, that is, while they stay in Greece. Eleven of them have already completed their contracts.

The Piraeus court award was calculated using Greek wage standard which is about four times more than what they would have received on wages stipulated in their contracts. The awards for the remaining 11 Filipino seamen are yet to be calculated by use of the same standard.

The Ambassador had sent  two letters, on 23 December 2009 and 14 January 2010. Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping Ms. Louka Katseli requesting her to allow the return to the Philippines of the said seamen as soon as possible even before the arrival of the relief crew.  Unfortunately the Minister has not responded yet.

(Convention among sailors and the shipping industry is that a crew cannot just abandon a ship – unless their lives are in immediate danger as in the case of a sinking ship — unless there is a replacement crew, as a crewless ship especially near a port, and  because it could be unmoored and buffeted by the tides, poses danger to other ships.)

On 1 December 2009, the embassy dispatched two of its staff on board Aetea Sierra to supply the Filipino seafarers with Filipino  food as they were missing their country’s own cuisine.  This action was repeated shortly before Christmas and communications with them remained open to ensure that they were in good condition on the ship.

The Embassy continues to be in touch with the Aetea Sierra crew.

There is no question that the crew must be allowed to return as soon as possible to their home.  But as the ITF lawyer Atty. Alykatoras had emphasized to the crew and to the Embassy: “We must all realize that we have to wait for the decision of the court.”

File photo of Somali pirates about to hijack a ship. Courtesy of trekearth.com

By Atty. George Eduvala, Labor Attache

Hijacking of ships by Somali pirates had worsened in the last months of last year, and the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Athens in all cases involving Filipino seamen are in close contact with the ship owners, managers, and manning agencies involved as well as with Greek authorities in order to ensure the safety of Filipino seamen in such ships.

Ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao has been monitoring closely these events, and keeping the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Alberto G. Romulo posted on developments, and even talking directly with ship owners in order to ensure the safety of Filipino seamen in hijacked ships.

Presently there are 53  Filipino seamen still held by pirates on three Greek-owned ships – Filitsa, Maran Centaurus and Navios Apollon – seized by Somali pirates in November-December 2009 and now berthed off the coast of Somalia.  There are additionally 22  other Filipino seamen still on three other ships owned each by Taiwanese, Thai and British companies, also hijacked by the pirates off Somalia.

The three Greek-owned ships are as follows:

• The 23,709 dwt cargo ship Filitsa, captured on November 11 is a Marshall Islands-flagged ship whichwas heading from Kuwait to Durban, South Africa when it was attacked 500 miles northeast of the Seychelles.  Order Shipping Co., the vessel’s operating company,  keeps the POLO posted on developments nearly every day and has assured the office  of the crew’s safety as well as  the continuing efforts of the company to bring the matter – now almost two months long – to an early settlement.

• The oil tanker Maran Centaurus, 332 meters in length, was sailing from Kuwait to New Orleans, USA when it was seized on November 29 near the Seychelles carrying around two million barrels of crude oil. Somali pirates captured Maran Centaurus 762 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Somalia.  It was then the farthest afield that the Somali pirates had ever struck. The ship, with deadweight of  300,294 tons, was carrying US$ 140 million in crude oil. In view thereof, the attack may be considered the largest and most audacious act of piracy in maritime history. Capt. Manthos Koutsothanasis, the crew manager of Maran Tankers Management Inc., reported to the POLO that the crew are in good shape.

• The Panamanian-flagged bulk cargo Navios Apollon was seized on December 28 about 800 miles off the Somali coast, north of the Seychelles. The vessel was sailing from the Florida to India with a cargo of fertilizer.

The recent hijacking cases emphasizes the worsening situation that the Somali pirates reach has grown.

The six captured ships, including the three owned by Greeks (in bold text), with Filipinos on board, are as follows:

Another Marshall Island-flagged bulk carrier, Delvina, hijacked on 5 November with a crew of 21, including 14 Filipinos, was released recently (on December 16) with all the crew unharmed.

The Somalia east coast is now teeming with captured vessels and crew. There are reportedly seven other vessels off the coast of Somalia with a combined crew of 161 (no Filipinos) bringing the total crew still kidnapped by the  pirates  to 308, of whom 75 or one-fourth, are Filipinos.

In 2009, Somali pirates seized 305 Filipinos on board 22 vessels. In comparison, a total of 117 Filipino seamen on board 11 ships were seized in the Gulf of Aden by the Somali pirates in 2008.

The Philippine manning agents of Filitsa, Maran Centaurus, and Navios Apollon are: Bright Maritime Corporation, Friendly Maritime Services, Inc., and Inter-Orient Maritime Enterprises, Inc., respectively.

12 Feb. 2010 – Eden Mae M. Castillo, college freshman, is the first awardee of the Philippine Ambassador’s  scholarship under an agreement signed only two months ago by  University of Indianapolis (Athens campus) Chancellor Vasilis Botopoulos and  Ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao.

The Philippine Ambassador’s Scholarship provides for a  70% tuition assistance to a Filipino for an undergraduate college degree at the prestigious University of Indianapolis (Athens Campus).

Under the agreement with the University, the Philippine Ambassador to Athens recommends the student who would avail of the scholarship. The only requirement is for the scholar to maintain an average grade of B.

Eden, as she is fondly called by her friends and teachers, is an alumna of the Philippine School in Greece- Katipunan Philippine Cultural Academy. She was very active with the different school’s activities. She was a member of the Kabataang Tinig Choir and the PSG Dance Troupe.

She also became the president of the student council in 2007-2008. Her teachers considered

her as a smart, diligent and responsible student. She also has good leadership skills.

Already considered an above-averge student at the University in the first semester,  she is ‘living proof’ of the quality of education provided by the Philippine School in Greece-Kaphilca, the Ambassador remarked.

She is now pursuing her college degree at the prestigious University of Indianapolis-Athens (UINDY-Athens). Eden says she is looking forward to taking either an A.B. Psychology or Arts and Communications degree.

She says she found the University of Indianapolos-Athens not only  an excellent and ideal place to learn, but  also a community in which administrators, teachers, and fellow

students are very friendly and helpful.

Eden Mae M. Castillo was born on March 09, 1991 in Antipolo City, Philippines.  She is the eldest daughter of Mr. Eduardo Bruce Castillo and Mrs. Lilia M. Castillo and a sister to Despina Joy Castillo.

The University of Indianapolis-Athens is not merely a franchise or a branch of the American university.  It is academically and legally categorized as a campus of the university.

The other forms of  “Ambassador’s Scholarships” Ambassador Tiglao had arranged with the University of Indianapolis (Athens Campus)  include five undergraduate  scholarships providing for a 25% tuition assistance and another five graduate-school scholarships also providing a 25% tuition assistance.

In addition to these “Ambassador’s Scholarships”, the MOU provides for a General undergraduate scholarships which will grant a 20% tuition assistance for undergraduate studies  for  a child or spouse of an employee of the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine School in Greece as well as for a graduate of the Philippine School in Greece .

There is also a General graduate scholarship program  which provides for a 20% tuition assistance for graduate studies of  an employee, child or spouse of the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine School employee at UINDY Athens.

Filipinos wanting to avail of these scholarships may contact Culural Attache Ms. Joanne David at the Philippine Embassy. #