Seven of eight Filipino seafarers detained in Algeria after cocaine was allegedly found on their ship have undergone questioning, the consultant of their manning agency told DAILY TRIBUNE's digital show Usapang OFW on Tuesday.

"Seven seafarers have already gone through interrogation, according to our lawyers. This is a great development for us because it will speed up the case resolution, unlike before when we had no access to them," Capt. Edgardo Flores said.

The remaining seafarer will also be questioned, according to the Eastern Mediterranean Manning Agency representative, who added that the eight Filipinos can now write to their families in the Philippines.

The seafarers have been in detention since July after 35 kilos of cocaine were allegedly found on their ship, the MV Harris when it docked at the Port of Algiers.

Flores thanked Usapang OFW for continuously bringing the matter to the relevant government agencies. He said that without the show's help, the seafarers would have remained detained without access to their lawyers and families.

He said their lawyers see a lot of loopholes in the allegations against the mariners and are hoping that the case would be dismissed at the prosecutorial level without being tried in court.

Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas aims to reduce the remittance transaction fee to 1 percent of the transferred amount from 5 percent.

BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. committed to this goal on Monday during the Philippine Economic Briefing in Iloilo City.

He noted the BSP target level is lower than the proposed level in the G20 countries, which include the United States, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Currently, remittance fees in this group go as high as 6 percent.

These statements came after the BSP projected remittances from overseas Filipino workers or OFWs could reach $37 billion or at least a 3-percent growth by the end of December.

Last year, remittances settled at $36.1 billion.

With Kathryn Jose