Five of the seven Indonesian crewmen who were held for almost a year at the Poro Point seaport here for alleged oil smuggling on January 1 were released on Tuesday after they were given clearance by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) district office here and the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation.
Joseph Langie, Indonesian Embassy’s assistant for consular affairs in Manila, fetched his countrymen at the port where MTUG Sungai Julan 1, the vessel used in smuggling, was docked.
The ship, worth around P110 million, has been forfeited in favor of the Philippine government.
Langie, along with the five crew Nur Salim, Haidar Ma’mur, Abdul Rakhman, Ahmad Ishak and Kamin, all Indonesians, boarded a bus at past 6:00 p.m. bound for Manila.
Langie told The STAR that the ship captain, Muhammad Tahir and Ronald Situmpol, chief engineer, both Indonesians, were left behind to face the criminal charge filed against them at the Department of Justice (DOJ) along with two BOC personnel, a maritime police, a quarantine officer, the tanker driver and its owner.
Aside from Tahir and Situmpol, five other Malaysian crewmen who were not included in the case, will remain in Poro Point because there were no actions taken by their Embassy.
“The two (Tahir and Situmpol) will face the case filed by the BOC. For the five (Indonesians), they will now be released,” Langie said.
Langie said the Embassy will be coordinating with the ship owner, a Malaysian, to provide financial assistance for the expenses of the five crewmen who will be going home the soonest so they can be with their families on Christmas day.
Edward Baltazar, BOC district collector, issued the release order of the Indon seamen after Langie arrived early at his office Tuesday.
“I already issued their clearance because there is no way we are going to hold them since there is no case filed against them. Only the ship captain and the chief engineer have a pending case at the DOJ,” Baltazar said.
He said the release of the crewmen was coordinated with the Immigration department.
Baltazar issued the forfeiture decision against the vessel including its cargo, 77, 058 liters of crude oil, and affirmed by Finance Secretary Margarito Teves last month which pave the way for the release of the crewmen.
The crewmen, who already fluent in Filipino language, expressed gratitude to their Embassy officials and to the BOC personnel who took care of them while they were confined at the seaport.
“They were very happy because they will be spending the holiday season with their family but they’re worried if their salaries have been remitted,” Baltazar said. |
