Russia has released 24 Filipinos detained without charges in Siberia after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expressed concern for them in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Philippine officials said Saturday. “Don’t worry, we will find a way to fix this problem,” Marcos quoted Putin as saying on Wednesday, the AP reports. The 24 were scheduled to arrive in Manila on 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 the organization’s diplomatic relations with Russia. Marcos held a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the summit. Marcos later 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 information about their condition. About 15,000 Filipinos live and work across Russia, according to Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Igor Bailen.