MANILA, Philippines—Eight Filipino seamen were sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of $5.3 million for oil trafficking in Iran, but the family of one of the eight learned about this only on Monday, more than a year after the verdict was handed down.

Leila Villabito was among those who met with officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs Monday to ask about the fate of her brother Samson Villabito.

"Buhay pa ba sya? Maliban sa pag-aresto sa kanila, wala na kaming balita (Is he still alive? Except for their arrest, we didn't have any other news)," she said.

"The last we were able to talk to him was August last year," she added.

Leila said that prior to this dialogue with the DFA, she and her family have not gotten any official report from the foreign affairs department about her brother's case.

In a one-page report handed to her after the dialogue, she was told that her brother was among the 11 crewmen of M/V Princefield arrested in August 2007 for oil trafficking. The principal, Salman Davood Salman, is based in Dubai.

The eight Filipino seamen, together with three other nationals, were convicted by Iran's Bandar Minab Court on September 23, 2007.

In a separate interview with reporters, Crescente Relacion, executive director of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs, said the Philippine government has asked the Iranian government to grant amnesty to the Filipino seamen.

"We're talking to the Iranian government to give them amnesty. We're appealing to them because the fine is huge and we couldn't afford it," he said in a press conference.