General Santos fishing port. (Photo: Tripadvisor.com)
PHILIPPINES Tuesday, December 11, 2012, 03:00 (GMT + 9)
The number of missing General Santos City fishermen has climbed to 315 as more fishing boats owned by tuna fishing companies based in the city were reported unaccounted to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) following typhoon Pablo, which hit provinces in Mindanao.
Fishermen group Pamalakaya has blamed tuna firms based in General Santos City for the missing fishermen and the PCG for not stopping the vessels from going to sea, reports Philstar.
The companies - RAFI Incorporated, RLG Fishing, DSG Fishing, LPS Fishing and Salazar Fishing - acknowledged that 46 tuna fishing boats and its crew members were still unaccounted as of Saturday last week.
Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairperson said: “These tuna firms were advised to temporarily shelve their operations because of the incoming storm. But they did not heed to the advisory and instead they pursued their perpetual thirst for precious tuna and gambled the lives of fish workers.”
Hicap said that despite the rough weather forecast about typhoon Pablo, he was puzzled as the General Santos Coast Guard allowed vessels to sail and fish for tuna.
“The national government, the local government and the owners of tuna fishing fleets should refrain from blaming the tuna fish workers. These small people and modern-day slaves in tuna factories are the victims here.”
He said that the government should investigate the accountability of the tuna companies and the possible criminal negligence of PCG officials, who gave the go-signal for owners of tuna fishing vessels.
Commander Nelbert Aniversario of the General Santos PCG said most of the unaccounted fishing boats lost contact with their bases last Monday afternoon, which was at the time that typhoon Pablo was reported to have started wreaking havok in the area, reports Minda News.
The missing fishing fleets were reportedly located around 115 nautical miles off the Davao Oriental seaboard when the storm warning came, he said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy and several fishing companies are conducting search and rescue operations for the missing fishing boats and their crew members.
CNN reports that the total number of missing people as a result of the Typhoon in the country stands at 780.