Filipinos in Russia are ‘safe’ amid Wagner armed rebellion, DFA says

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Department of Foreign Affairs

(DFA) on Monday said Filipinos in Russia are safe and in good shape following the armed rebellion staged by a private mercenary group over the weekend.

Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said there are around 10,000 Filipinos in Russia and 9,000 of them are in Moscow, which the mercenary group Wagner did not enter.

“The Wagner group entered Rostov, which is 1,000 kilometers away. And the embassy in Moscow contacted the Filipinos there. There are 11 Filipinos there,” De Vega said, in an interview with GMA News “Unang Balita”.

“They are in good condition and the mini-rebellion has already ended so the situation in Russia is getting back to normal,” he added. bone of the global maritime industry with more than 489,000 Filipino sailors working on ships across the world.

But authorities remain vigilant in light of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, according to De Vega.

De Vega stressed that no Filipinos in Russia, including those in Rostov, have expressed interest in leaving the country or being evacuated.

“Even the people in Rostov, when the embassy talked to them, said they are safe despite the presence of tanks in the city,” he said.

The Philippine Embassy over the weekend asked Filipinos in Russia to remain vigilant and take precautions, and cautioned them against putting out political opinions on social media.

This was after Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said he had already taken control of Rustov-onDon as part of an attempt to oust the military leadership.

Last December 2022, Filipino seafarers were placed on edge after the European Maritime Safety Agency said that the Philippines is not complying with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for seafarers.

In March 2023, the European Union said that it will continue to recognize the certificates of Filipino sailors as the Philippines had serious development in complying with international maritime safety standards.

Marcos enjoined all national government agencies, multilateral organizers, and private stakeholders to work together in identifying strategies to ensure the availability of skilled workers.

Some $276 million will support projects of the Department of AgricultureBureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), specifically the Mindanao Inclusive Agriculture Development Project (MIADP) and the Philippine Fisheries and Coastal Resiliency (FishCoRe) Project.

The MIADP aims to sustainably increase the agricultural productivity, resiliency, and accessibility to markets and services of organized farmers and fisherfolks in selected ancestral domains and for selected value chains in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, FishCoRe aims to improve fisheries management, enhance the value of fisheries production, and elevate incomes in selected coastal communities.

To improve the quality of education, a $110 million loan agreement was signed for the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project (TEACEP).

The TEACEP aims to improve equitable access to quality teaching in Kindergarten to Grade 6 (K-6) in