MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Migrant Workers said it has tapped the Department of Justice and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for help on an alleged forced labor trafficking case of Filipino fishermen.
Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said 35 Filipino fishermen are involved in the incident. They were deployed by two Philippine manning agencies, namely the Trioceanic Manning & Shipping, Inc. and Diamond H Marine Services & Shipping Agency.
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The affidavits of the 26 fishermen noted that they were originally recruited to work in Taiwan, but they instead ended up deployed to Namibia in Africa.
“Based on the testimonies that we gathered, the fishermen were sometimes made to work for 36 hours straight with only two meals a day, and an average of 4 hours of sleep,” Ople said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Their identity papers, including passports and seamen’s books were kept away from the workers, which is a blatant violation of the rights of these seafarers.”
The fishermen were rescued by Namibian authorities last year and were relocated to a shelter. Their employers are being investigated for violating the country’s labor act, immigration policies and the Marine Resources Act.
The DMW said it has since met with both of the manning agencies and they have paid back the salaries of the fishermen.
However, the department said they will still look into the “criminal aspects” of the case, tapping the DOJ and the IACAT to look into contractual and labor violations committed by their agencies.
The DMW said it is also investigating other firms involved, with the Shang Chi Enterprise Ltd., One Marine Services, Inc., and Arrow Marine PTE, Ltd. now permanently disqualified from hiring Filipino fishermen. – Kaycee Valmonte