Let us not forget our fishers

This traditional Visayan song is likely the first song many Filipinos hear about fishing.

- EMMELINE AGLIPAY-VILLAR

Meant to be humorous – the fisherman's catch is so small the proceeds can only buy him a drink of tuba – it also unfortunately encapsulates the typical life of fishers, many of whom live precarious lives where their efforts are exploited for meager returns.

Much has been said about our fishers suffering poor and unsafe working conditions without proper compensation and being deprived of the most basic of needs, such as food and drinking water. Being indebted to employers and other creditors even before they leave the shores, they are coerced to working inhumanely long hours aboard vessels – 20 to 21 hours of work, where sleeping four hours a day is considered a luxury.

Despite our knowledge of the suffering that they endure, it has been shown that the trafficked fishers are lost in the system. Since they are not being effectively identified as victims of human trafficking, they are not protected. They rarely get into our justice and welfare systems because our systems do not actively look for them in the same way that we look for other victims of trafficking.

The recent passage of the Magna Carta for Seafarers, far from benefitting fishers, instead merely highlights their plight as those that work on fishing vessels are explicitly excluded from the coverage of the Magna Carta. Fishers are among the poorest of the basic sectors, with an average annual compensation just above the poverty threshold. Many factors contribute to this: the uncertainty of seasonal work, irregular pay, the risk of wage theft, exploitative practices, hazardous conditions and a lack of a social security safety net, which all contribute to make the life of a fisher a precarious one.