First of 2 parts
A teacher from his college told John Mar Regala about a chance to board a ship and work at sea. It was Regala’s dream to become a seafarer — he even studied marine transportation in college which he never got to finish.
Regala gave the teacher a placement fee, worked for a solar company in Negros while waiting for news. On September 26, 2023, he traveled to Ermita with the teacher, went straight to the manning agency’s office for an interview and medical exam. He was set to work as a migrant fisher in a foreign fishing vessel.
The next day, he flew to Singapore along with 19 other Filipinos and boarded a fishing vessel. They sailed for 14 days to get to the Indian Ocean, he said.
He didn’t know what awaited him on the vessel, and was unaware of the labor violations and abuses often linked to distant water fishing.
It didn’t occur to him that after toiling for eight months, neither he nor his family would get a single centavo for the hours he worked at sea. This would be similar to other Filipino migrant fishers’ accounts: toil hard on foreign waters, go home empty-handed.
“Nalaman na lang po namin lahat ‘yun noong pauwi na kami noong nagka-signal na sa Singapore,” Regala told Rappler. “Doon lang po nalaman namin na wala palang pumasok sa amin na mga sahod.”
(We only learned about it when we’re about to go home, when we got a signal in Singapore. That’s when we learned we did not receive our salaries.)
Others got payment for four months, he said. They had been out at sea for eight months.
The fishing business
Unaware of what would happen but still full of hope, Regala soon learned the hardships of working on a fishing vessel far from home.
Fishing starts late at night. At 9 pm, the captain of the ship would sound the buzzer and the nets are cast. The crew waits. After an hour or so, the nets are hauled up again. They would organize the catch, put them in the freezer.
Between October and April, Regala said they cast the nets as many as nine times a day. They finished by 5 or 6 am, after which they would clean up and eat breakfast.
Sometimes, their superiors would ask them to do some errands after breakfast, at the time when they were supposed to be resting. Soon it’s time for lunch. At 2 or 3 pm, Regala said they would take the fish from the freezer and put them downstairs in the cold storage area. That way, there would be enough space for the following night’s catch. This could go on until 6 pm.
The cycle repeats. In a few hours, the ship captain would sound the buzzer again at 9 pm. The nets are cast, fish caught. All sorts of marine life can find their way inside the nets. There could be bycatch of non-target species like dolphins and baby sharks. One time, he said, when they hauled up the net they found seven dolphins.
He shared sleeping quarters with three Chinese men. There were other Filipinos on the ship, some Malaysians. They shared a common toilet. They boiled sea water to sterilize it and have something to drink when the bottled water ran out. Their meals were repetitive, most times they ate squid or fish. Some canned foods expired.
“Minsan makakatulog ka two hours, three hours,” the 24-year-old said. “‘Pag nakatulog ka po ng four hours, magpasalamat ka na po noon kasi mahaba na po ‘yung pahinga mo noon.”
(Sometimes you’ll sleep for two or three hours. If you sleep for four hours, you’d be grateful because that means you had a long rest.)
Regala said he worked on the Chinese fishing vessel Fu Yuan Yu 7895. That was not the name of the ship written on his contract, administered by Buwan Tala Manning. He was originally assigned to Fu Yuan Yu 8508 and his one-year contract stipulated that he would get a monthly salary of $379 (P21,588)* by working 48 hours a week.
Fu Yuan Yu 7895, according to records from non-profit journalism organization The Outlaw Ocean Project, had been blocked by the United States’ Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control due to the operator’s involvement in transshipment of shark carcasses, as well as reports of physical violence and forced labor.
In 2023, the year Regala flew to Singapore and boarded the Fu Yuan Yu vessel, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) recorded at least 7,992 Filipino fishers deployed to foreign fishing vessels.
In the last five years, the Philippines deployed at least 37,852 Filipino fishers from January 2019 to October 2024, according to DMW.
China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Vanuatu Island are the top flag states that employ Filipino migrant fishers in 2024, according to DMW records. Between January and October 2024, 2,585 Filipinos boarded Chinese fishing vessels while 1,339 Filipinos worked on Taiwanese fishing vessels.
Both China and Taiwan own some of the largest distant water fishing fleets in the world. Labor and human rights abuses in these vessels have been reported and documented, as well as cases of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
China ranked first in the 2023 IUU Fishing Risk Index, Taiwan came in seventh, while South Korea was ninth.
The remote nature of fisheries make prosecution against labor and environmental regulations difficult, a 2024 report from non-government organization Environmental Justice Foundation noted.
“These fleets frequently operate in regions where there is limited capacity or enforcement of monitoring, control and surveillance systems; employ migrant or host country labour from poorer nations who are vulnerable to abuses; and operate under flags of convenience, enabling them to circumvent fisheries management measures that apply to the flag of their true beneficial ownership,” the report read.
A long way to go
Steps have been taken to improve labor conditions at sea. The Philippine government recently passed the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers. The problem is that migrant fishers are not technically seafarers.
Dennis Gorecho, a lawyer who works on seafarers’ and migrant fishers’ cases, said that the Magna Carta was based on the Maritime Labour Convention, which does not cover fishing vessels. This exclusion was reflected in its implementing rules and regulations.
“Ang Magna Carta kasi, sabi lang, i-focus lang doon sa Maritime Labour Convention,” Gorecho told Rappler. “And [the] Maritime Labour Convention, naka-focus doon sa technical seafarers. Kaya parang sabi nila, the fishers should have their own.”
(The Magna Carta was focused on the Maritime Labour Convention. And [the] Maritime Labour Convention focused only on the technical seafarers. That’s why it’s like they said, the fishers should have their own.)
Gorecho was referring to the ILO Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188) — a framework that seeks to protect migrant fishers on board fishing vessels and advance decent working conditions. It requires fishers to receive regular payment. The Philippine government has yet to ratify the Convention.
For comparison, the Philippines ratified the Maritime Labour Convention in 2012 then passed the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers in September 2024 — a 12-year wait between ratification and the passage of its own domestic policy on seafarers’ rights.
Some groups like the Concerned Seafarers of the Philippines expressed concern over the exclusion of fishers from the Magna Carta.
When Regala returned to the Philippines in June 2024, he found many other disgruntled migrant fishers who came back to Manila with empty pockets. They sought assistance from Senator Raffy Tulfo, DMW, and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Some fishers opted to settle with their respective manning agencies, getting less than what their contracts provided.
Regala did not settle. Instead of going home, he found work in a warehouse. He did this while he awaited resolution of his case. Each day he rode a bike to work. When he didn’t use it, he parked it along the alley, just outside his aunt’s sari-sari store.
Regala said he would visit Negros soon in time for his younger sister’s college graduation. He said he might go back to school himself, when this is all over. (To be concluded) – Rappler.com
US$1 = P56.9610 (Exchange rate in September 2023)