MANILA -- Only 78 Filipino seafarers refused to board ships that would pass through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where several vessels have been attacked by Houthi rebels, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Monday.

The Philippines earlier enforced a "right to refuse" policy so that Filipino seafarers could refuse to accept deployments to dangerous waters without legal repercussions from employers or ship owners.

"One reason could be yung hazard rates, double ang suweldo," DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac told state-television PTV.

Cacdac did not mention how many of the 560,000 Filipino seafarers worldwide are deployed to ships traversing waters where Houthi rebels have been launching attacks in solidarity with Hamas fighters in Gaza.

Since last year, at least four vessels with Filipino crews have been attacked by the Houthis. Two died, one remains missing, while others are still held hostage by the rebel group.

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"We have prohibited those whose ships have already been attacked from hiring Filipino workers to board ships," Cacdac said.

"We want to make sure that only the safest, most risk-averse, most protective ship owners should be able to pass through that area with Filipino seafarers on board," he said. 

The DMW said it is "carefully balancing the policy in such a way that shipowners and seafarers will be free to navigate" despite threats to their safety, he added.

"Dapat mayroong proteksyon, mayroong armed guards, risk and threat assessments bago isubmit sa amin." 

Filipino seafarers make up around 25 percent of seafarers across the world, according to data from the DMW.

The number of registered Filipino seafarers in 2023 was at 560,000, exceeding pre-pandemic numbers which was pegged at around 510,000, data showed.

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