Tuna fish ban to affect local industry – DoLE

The tuna fishing ban in the Pacific Ocean will directly affect some 500 workers in the country’s local fishing industry, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said Saturday.

Labor and Employment Secretary Marianito Roque said the fishing ban will also affect about 50 local fishing companies in Saranggani and General Santos, 13 of which have licenses to fish in the high seas covered by the purse seine ban.

“The two-year ban on fishing in the Pacific Ocean will definitely have an impact on the workers in the fishing industry, that is why we have set in measures to mitigate the impact of the ban,’’ said Roque.

Starting this week, Roque said the DoLE office in Region 12 in collaboration with other concerned government agencies will be putting one-stop emergency employment centers (EECs) in strategic sites to ensure quick profiling and data banking of the workers.

The DoLE has also activated two of its livelihood and emergency employment and projects — Tulong Pangkabuhayan Para sa mga Disadvantaged (TUPAD) and Integrated Services for Livelihood Assistance (ISLA) for fisherfolk — to assist workers who will experience temporary work loss.

Likewise, the labor department created Task Force GenSan (TFGS) to aid workers in the tuna capital.

During the recent Industry Tripartite Council (ITC) Fishing Industry meeting, Roque said the parties concerned have assured to give and contribute in whatever ways they can to help the country’s fishermen.

In addition, Roque said the DoLE will also be providing employment facilitation services to local and overseas jobs, skills survey, training and scholarships, Diskwento caravan and youth employment under the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) and Kabataan ITO programs.

The fishing ban in the Pacific Ocean took effect last January 1.

Meanwhile, recruitment agencies deploying fishermen to Taiwan are asking the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to send displaced fishermen from General Santos City to the island country, which is now in need of workers for its fishing industry.

At least 500 fishermen from the tuna capital of the Asia are facing displacement as a result of the two-year tuna fishing ban in the Pacific Ocean, the DoLE earlier said.

“The POEA should immediately call a conference among recruitment agencies sending fishermen to Taiwan so that plans can be implemented for the benefit of the GenSan fishermen,’’ said Jackson Gan, vice president for marketing of the Federated Association of Manpower Exporters (FAME).

“The fishermen of General Santos have excellent skills in catching tuna and other species of fish. However, their main drawback in applying for overseas jobs is the lack of finances,’’ added Gan, whose agency, First Champion, deploys fishermen to Taiwan.

Gan suggested to the POEA and the DoLE to outline a program that can financially support the application of the fishermen for overseas jobs.

The program outline, he said, must include measures that will subsidize the passport fees, medical exam fees, NSO certificates, NBI clearances, SOLAS training and seaman’s books of each worker.

“This is the best form of livelihood assistance that DoLE can give to the fishermen who only know one skill, which is to catch fish, and the assistance can be employment facilitation services which is a mandate of DoLE,’’ he stressed.

For his part, Gan assured the DoLE and the POEA that his office will organize a job fair in General Santos if the agencies agree to his proposal for financial assistance for fishermen who want to go Taiwan. –SHIANEE MAMANGLU, Manila Bulletin