THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) is offering a skills upgrade for the 17 Filipino seafarers who were recently freed from Houthi captivity.
OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio, in a statement on Saturday, said the Seafarers Upgrading Program (SUP) and the Skills for Employment Scholarship Program (SESP) are available to the 17 who returned to Manila on Thursday.
The 17 were part of 25 crewmembers of the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader which was hijacked by Yemen’s Houthis rebels in November 2023 in the Red Sea while their ship was en route to India.
“Once they are ready to go back to work in ships, they can avail themselves of OWWA’s SUP and SESP,” Ignacio said.
The SESP is a short-term training program, or six months to two years) consisting of a maximum of P14,500 per training course leading to completion of a technical or vocational course in any school accredited by TESDA, MARINA, and other government training institutions.
The SUP is a short-term training program for seafarers consisting of a maximum of P7,500 per upgrading course in accredited maritime training centers/institutions.
OWWA has provided the 17 seafarers with financial aid, counseling, and stress debriefing.