50,000 may lose jobs due to Mindanao power problem - Pamalakaya

MANILA, Philippines - At least 50,000 workers in several canning factories and deep-sea fishing vessel companies in General Santos City, Zamboanga Peninsula and South Cotabato are in danger of losing their jobs because of the current power crisis in Mindanao, a fisherfolk group said Tuesday.

Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France said the seven to eight hour power outages now sweeping the Mindanao island will force operators of canning factories and deep sea fishing to downsize labor, reduce fishing and canning hours and cut minimum wages by a half because of the daily brownouts.

"Mr. Aquino should not ignore this economic holocaust now unfolding all over Mindanao and being witness with outrage by the Filipino public. Imagine the impact of power crisis to 50,000 fish workers and fishport workers in Zamboanga Peninsula, General Santos City and the entire Socksargen area," France said.

He said that aside from the power outages, other issues complicating the operations of Filipino owned fish canneries and deep sea fishing in Mindanao are the sky high cost of petroleum products and the 12 percent expanded value added tax.

He added that at the height of oil price increases in 2009 and 2010, some commercial fishing operators were forced to shut down operations or reduce labor force by one-third up to one-half.

France also asked fish cannery and deep sea fishing operators not to sacrifice jobs and wages just to survive the impacts of power outages in Mindanao.

France said Filipino businessmen and fish workers both affected by the power crisis in Mindanao should agree to seek audience with President Benigno Aquino III and the power utility firms.

"The focus of outrage against the power crisis in Mindanao should be on the Aquino administration, its deregulated policy on the power industry and those transnational companies and their partners in crime who take advantage of the deregulated regime to gain huge profits by exploiting Filipino businessmen in canning industry and the fish workers," he said.

The group claimed that the power outages in Mindanao had caused Filipino businessmen to lose as much as P300 million in unrealized sales and higher costs which started this summer.

The biggest losers are the seven canning factories and the deep-sea fishing vessel operators in General Santos City and neighboring South Cotabato province, according to Rey Billena, vice president of the General Santos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Billena argued that the worsening power crisis had forced owners of the factories and vessels to use their own diesel-fed generators, which, he added, are more expensive, and continue paying workers even if the factories were not operating.

He said fish canning and deep sea fishing operators are compelled to shoulder an additional P2 million in operating costs per day to cover for the fuel and the man-hours.

One cannery even lost between P200,000 and P300,000 to pay workers who did not work on certain days because there was no electricity, Billena said, noting that the losses amounted to a total of P8 million to P10 million per cannery per month.