…Filipino migrant fishers are at the bottom of the food chain that feeds manning agencies, foreign shipowners, and countries that own massive distant water fishing fleets…

…they complained about unpaid wages, unremitted Social Security System...and PhilHealth contributions. They raised issues of work being cut short — they were repatriated earlier than expected — plane fares and medical requirements deducted from their salaries…

Ten of these fishers, which named Britmark Shipping Services as the manning agency, eventually chose to settle…

But some fishers pursued cases and won. One of them is Nante Maglangit, a migrant fisher who worked in Han Rong fishing vessels from 2019 to 2021. Along with another migrant fisher, he filed a case against his manning agency, Global Marine Offshore Resources Inc., demanding unpaid wages…

Manning agencies are unable to give full wages because of the lack of cooperation from what they call the “principal” or the shipowner…

One of Buwan Tala’s agents was the one who facilitated Maglangit’s contract with Global Marine Offshore Resources Inc. She was also the agent of Cernal at Able Maritime… [Able Maritime did not respond to Philstar’s allegations of abuse relating to Cernal’s case].