GenSan firm to file raps vs 10 involved in hijack

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The management of a fishing company here will file criminal and administrative charges against its workers who took part in the hijacking of its seven fishing vessels in the high seas of Papua New Guinea last Aug. 24.

Lawyer Renato Tampac, corporate legal counsel of the RD Tuna Ventures Phils. and South Sea Fishing Ventures owned by fishing tycoon Rodrigo Rivera Jr., said at least 10 crewmembers, not 153 as earlier reported, will be charged with mutiny and robbery.

"Since they violated the law... they have to face the consequences of their illegal acts," Tampac said during a press conference.

Tampac refused to identify those involved in the hijacking pending further investigation.

He said the arrested boat officers are now in the custody of the Philippine ambassador in Papua New Guinea.

Sources said the crewmembers were demanding increased wages and benefits from RD Tuna Ventures and South Sea Fishing Ventures similar to what overseas Filipino workers get.

"We cannot understand why (they) are raising these issues when they are receiving much more than the government’s minimum wage law," said Renne Subido, former project officer of the Growth Equity in Mindanao (GEM) and now the vice president for corporate business affairs of the fishing company.

He added that the crewmen also earn additional income from their fish catch through a "profit-sharing" scheme.

Subido claimed that the crewmen held hostage and tied up some of their fellow workers and forced them to sign a manifesto airing their demands.

He alleged that the Papua New Guinea-based International Transport Workers Federation incited their crewmen to hijack the seven fishing vessels.

The company owns several canning factories in the country. It bought a huge parcel of land in Papua New Guinea where it built a canning factory to process the fish it catches in the territorial waters of that country.

"This scenario might be one of the reasons why (the crewmembers) were convinced to demand higher compensation from the company," said a relative of one of them in a radio interview.