MANILA, Philippines--(UPDATE) The all-Filipino crew of an Irish-owned fishing vessel seized the quiet of dawn two weeks ago to flee their barracks located in a fishing village south of Belfast, after their employer abused them when he was drunk.The crew—given sanctuary by a Tagalog-speaking Irish priest and assisted by the Filipino community in Northern Ireland—were repatriated to Manila on Sunday "[The boat skipper] hurt us. He punched and tried to strangle one of us because he was drunk … We decided to leave because we might experience something worse than that. We wanted to avoid trouble," explained Filomar Orquillano, 44, the most senior in the crew, upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The seamen, all experienced seafarers who had served in other international vessels, said they escaped their staffhouse in the village of Kilkeel before sunrise on April 19 while their skipper, the boat owner's son Mark Anderson, slept. Orquillano said three of the crewmen—Basilio Castro, Rando Otto and Joselito Alcain—suffered beatings. "All we could do was push him away," said Alcain, 40. Anderson's father John, the vessel's owner, was away on holiday at the time, the seamen told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net). The group fled to a nearby Catholic church where they sought sanctuary. To their surprise, the Irish priest spoke Tagalog because he had spent some 30 years as a missionary in Zambales. He immediately put them in touch with support groups for overseas Filipino workers. The seamen said the priest did not want to be named. Irish police soon arrived to get the Filipino crewmen's statements. Orquillano said the police told them of previous misdeeds of the younger Anderson. "We were told he had 12 previous cases," said Orquillano, who had worked with the Andersons for two years, the longest of the group. Help arrived from the Filipino community in Belfast, who gave the seamen clothes and other necessities. Orquillano said Ireland-based kababayan (countrymen) also helped them get in touch with their agency in Manila, Super Manning, and the Philippine Embassy in the United Kingdom. The embassy and the agency worked together on their repatriation and shouldered their plane fare, the seamen said. They have filed claims of P45,000 each covering two weeks of work on the fishing vessel. The boat went out on waters off Kilkeel for four to five days at a time to catch prawns. The other crew members included Policarpio Aranda, twin brothers Rogelio and Rolando Pichon, Mervin Balbes, Mario Yumol, Nicky Monacillo and Jonathan Lachica. According to figures of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland is home to 11,500 Filipinos, most of whom work in health care, hotels and information technology. | 
