By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora
MANILA – The Philippine government is facilitating possible assistance for seven Filipinos allegedly deceived into serving as mercenaries for Russia, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.
Of the seven, one is confirmed dead while the rest are being held as prisoners of war (POWs) in Ukraine.
DFA spokesperson Angelica Escalona declined to provide details about the assistance being requested, but said the DFA is already in touch with authorities from both Ukraine and Russia, including the Red Cross.
“We are requesting their assistance in this matter for our kababayans (compatriots). This is a complicated process because the Philippines is not party to the conflict,” she said in an interview in Pasay City.
“‘Yong mga (The) return and repatriation of prisoners of war, it would depend on the agreements between the parties to the conflict.”
Even the access to POWs, Escalona said, is governed by international laws and policies on the detainees.
“‘Yon ang challenge, hindi siya straightforward na repatriate agad (That is the challenge because it’s not as straightforward as regular repatriation),” she added.
Escalona said the Ukraine side has so far “taken note” of the request when the Philippines reached out to its embassy in Manila.
The DFA said most of the information that it has is from the families of the involved Filipinos, who shared that they were recruited through “online job offers.”
“Very deceptive ‘yong mga online job offers. If you’ve already read our advisory, it says be cautious about job offers because some of it are very deceiving and may claim it’s for civilian work but turns out it’s not,” Escalona said in Filipino.
Last month, the Ukrainian Army confirmed that a Filipino national, identified as John Patrick, was killed during what it described as a “meat assault” or attacks on Ukrainian positions with high casualty rates in the Kramatorsk District in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine and Russia have been at war since the latter launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sparking Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously reported that Russia has since occupied 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory. (PNA)
