Gov’t aid to displaced GenSan tuna workers reaches P3.6 M

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (PNA) – The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has so far released some P3.629 million worth of assistance to more than 900 tuna industry workers here who had lost their jobs due to the impact of the two-year fishing ban in the high seas off the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

Lawyer Ma. Gloria Tango, DoLE Region 12 director, said at least 957 displaced workers from eight companies under the local tuna fishing and processing sectors have already availed of various livelihood packages and other related assistance offered by the agency since the fishing ban started last January 1.

She said they provided livelihood or small business starter kits, emergency employment and free basic safety training to the workers and included their dependents in the Kabataan Information Technology Opportunities program.

Last week, Tango said they released additional livelihood or Kabuhayan starter kits to 142 workers who were directly affected by the tuna fishing ban.

She said the livelihood packages, which were worth P5,000 each, included bicycles for “balut” vending as well as basic equipment and supplies for “carinderia” or small eateries, massage therapy, and dressmaking businesses.

Tango said they released the packages following the approval of the project proposals that were earlier submitted by the beneficiaries to DoLE 12.

“We’ve been encouraging the affected workers to go into small business ventures so they will have alternative livelihood sources during the duration of the fishing ban and even beyond,” she said.

The release of the livelihood packages was part of the agency’s approved action program for displaced tuna industry workers from this city as a result of the Pacific fishing ban imposed by the  Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

The WCPFC was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, of which the Philippines was a signatory, that came into force in 2004.

The commission imposed the fishing ban on all of its 25-member countries and 10 other observer-states as a result of scientific studies and the emergence of statistics that showed the drastic decline of tuna fish stocks, especially “big eye” and “yellow fin” tuna. –Manila Bulletin