“Don’t worry, we will find a way to fix this problem.” That was Vladimir Putin’s answer over dinner in Kazan, according to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., when Marcos asked about 24 Filipinos held in Siberia.
Within days, Russia let them go. The 24 landed in Manila on two flights early Sunday, Philippine officials said. Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro, who had joined Marcos for his talks with Putin on Wednesday, greeted the first group. Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac met the last one before dawn, and his agency gave the workers aid it did not specify.
Nine months without charges
The Filipinos had been held for about nine months in Yakutsk, a city in eastern Siberia in a region known for brutal winter cold. Marcos told reporters after his bilateral meeting with Putin that no charges had been brought against them, and that Manila had no other information on how they were doing.
Philippine officials said there were reports the group may have fallen victim to illegal job recruitment and then been taken into custody over possible immigration violations.
Putin told Marcos he knew nothing about the case but would look into it. At dinner he said the Filipinos had not been charged with any wrongdoing, Marcos said. Russian officials later told the Philippine delegation the group would be deported straight back to Manila.
The summit setting
Marcos currently holds the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In Kazan he led leaders of the 11-nation bloc in marking 35 years of ASEAN’s diplomatic relations with Russia, and met Putin on the sidelines of that summit on June 17, 2026. Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong also attended.
The speed of the release stood out, coming soon after Marcos raised the matter. The Philippines is a key U.S. treaty ally in Asia, and most ASEAN members, the Philippines included, voted for a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Singapore is the only member of the bloc to have imposed sanctions on Russia.
Philippine Ambassador to Moscow Igor Bailen has put the number of Filipinos living and working across Russia at about 15,000.
