The wives of three Filipino seamen, who remain imprisoned in Algeria after their ship was found carrying over 35 kilos of cocaine in July 2023, are appealing to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for government intervention as their drug case nears its final verdict this year.
Originally, eight Filipino seamen were sentenced to 20 years in prison, but five of them were acquitted last year after lawyers provided by the Philippine government and their manning agency secured a favorable ruling from the Algerian Court of Appeals.
While the jail term of the three remaining Filipinos were reduced from 20 to 15 years, their wives maintain their innocence and are seeking government support. They insisted that their husbands had no involvement in the alleged drug smuggling, stating that the illegal substances were discretely loaded onto the MV Harris by stevedores hired by drug syndicates.
The case of the three remaining Filipinos were already brought to the Supreme Court of Algeria and the three wives are seeking help from President Marcos as the final verdict is expected by September or October this year.
“We are humbly asking for the help of the President to intervene through a government-to-government approach. They have been suffering for roughly two years now. One of them is suffering from diabetes. Please help them with this injustice because they are seafarers and not drug peddlers,” one of the wives said in a press conference in Manila on Friday.
“They are so hopeless and miserable, that is why we are seeking the President’s BBM intervention. We pity our children who miss their fathers. Please don’t let them grow without their fathers,” she added.
The same appeal is contained in a separate letter to the Philippine Embassy in Libya in Tripoli.
“We deeply understand that international legal and diplomatic processes take time, but our families are already suffering emotionally and mentally due to the prolonged uncertainty,” the letter read.
“Many of our children have grown up without their fathers, and our families continue to live in hardship and anxiety, not knowing when our loved ones will be able to return home,” it added. (Aaron Recuenco)
