Russia frees 24 Filipinos after Marcos talks with Putin

MANILA, Philippines — Russia has freed 24 Filipinos who have been detained for months without charges in a Siberian city, after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. raised concern for them in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Philippine officials said Saturday.

The 24 were scheduled to arrive in Manila in two flights early Sunday, with the first batch to be welcomed by Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro, who accompanied Marcos in his talks with Putin on Wednesday in the Russian city of Kazan, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said.

Marcos, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, led leaders of the 11-nation bloc in commemorating the 35th anniversary of ASEAN’s diplomatic relations with Russia. Marcos held a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the summit in Kazan.

The release of the Filipinos was relatively swift after Marcos raised his concern on Wednesday. The Philippines is a key treaty ally of the United States in Asia and was among the majority of ASEAN members that voted for a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Singapore was the only ASEAN member to impose sanctions on Russia. Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong joined the Kazan summit.

After his bilateral meeting with Putin, Marcos told reporters that he raised his concern over the Filipinos who have been detained for about nine months in the city of Irkutsk in southeastern Siberia without charges. He said the Philippines has no other information about their condition.

There were reports that the Filipinos may have been victims of illegal job recruitment and taken into custody in Russia due to possible violations of immigration laws, Philippine officials said.

Putin told Marcos that he was unaware of the problem but promised to look into it. Over dinner on Wednesday, the Russian president told Marcos that the Filipinos had not been charged with any wrongdoing, Marcos said. “Don’t worry, we will find a way to fix this problem,” Marcos quoted Putin as saying.

The Philippine delegation was eventually notified by Russian officials that the Filipinos would immediately be deported back to Manila, Marcos said.

About 15,000 Filipinos live and work across Russia, according to Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Igor Bailen.