Wednesday, February 09, 2011
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the pirates killed Farolito Vallega on January 26, two days after a failed rescue attempt of the MV Beluga Nomination.
Two crew members of the ship, a Filipino and a Ukrainian, were rescued during the mission while another Filipino sailor was missing.
The ship was seized by Somali pirates on January 22 390 nautical miles (722 kilometres) north of Port Victoria in the Seychelles.
'We condemn in no uncertain terms the killing of Farolito Vallega, a man who was merely doing his job and making an honest living for his family,' the department said in a statement.
The Filipino sailors now in the hands of Somali pirates in the Gulf in Aden number 121.
The Philippines is the world's leading supplier of ship crew with more than 350,000 sailors manning oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide.
Source: dpa