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ENTRY: October 11, 2016 Tuesday
Location :
Somewhere in Indian Ocean
As
the days went by here at the anchorage , everything was basically the same old
routine. Paint the welded new metal with primer paint , Garbage segregation
etc. The new crew here seems to be pleasant as far as I know and have new
improved (and far less repressive) Policies.
Lately
I had been in trouble on the social media, this time apparently something I
posted in Facebook which is against on my current company and principal I'm
hanging out (CF Sharp and Norstar) . Basically I have no idea how it got to their
attention, about my negative postings against them - I could only speculate two
things.
One
speculation running thru my head, was the posting I made in "Tinig ng
Marino" Facebook group ( a UFS ,
filipino seaman workers union social media arm) , obviously on my previous journal entries , I have written that the
conversation went bad with Nelson Ramirez even threating me that he will report
me on CF Sharp about my so called "irresponsible" media posting. But
the posting I made there was deleted and my deletion of that post in the face
book group sanitize any evidence that would link me on that incident. Aside
from the fact that Mr. Nelson Ramirez talked to the CF sharp Management, but
it’s a far cry to actually identify me.
Another
speculation was that one of my friends in Facebook leaked my post , and told it
to Mr. Lawrence who contacted chief cook via his tablet PC and notified me
about the post, who which in turned had me deleted all the previous entries I
made against CF Sharp and Norstar. Its high likely this was the case since my
FB account was in "private" and only my friends and me can actually
see the post I had made.
After a few
hours of careful thinking , it became clear to me and its by just accident that
I pointed myself into harm's way inadvertently when I tagged my friends on that
post. From what I learned on the Facebook, whenever I had "tagged" my
FB friends on a post , I risk myself in being seen by friends of FB friends on
my post. To simply put the 2nd degree friends can see what I'm posting if I use
the "tagged" option. So basically it sums down that if I'm going to
post anything nasty or negative to any person or entity , make sure I do not
use the "TAGGED" option at all , to maintain my privacy.
From this
point on , NO MORE USE OF THE OPTION "TAGGED" so I won't be trouble
the next time.
Unexpectedly
a few days after the notice , there has been changes. The internet limitation
of 100 Mb per month was put back to its old deal which is 4 hours per day , and
believe it or not - even the bond store now doesn’t require us to pay in paper
cash and will be just in salary deduction now. This may sound sweet and nice
but being naturally cautious, I'm starting to have doubts that this may sound
all too good. The timing of discovery of my FB post and the changes on policy
have been too perfect and make me believe something is not right and CF Sharp
Management maybe planning something , probably a reprisal of some sort.
Honestly
this is a very common occurrence in the Philippine maritime community about the
suppression of freedom of inquiry and speech. Those who speak out (or even hint) and question the
authority are either "Black listed" or end up being "Not for
hire" which eventually lead to the seafarer's career being ruined, either
the complaint was valid or not. That is the harsh reality of being a sailor in
the Philippines - too many vulnerabilities, one stroke and all of it - as in
EVERYTHING gets thrown away like yesterday's breakfast. the illegal "black
listing" practice that has already been condemned by ITF and countless
other workers unions in other countries,
in the
Philippines, POEA denies such list exist OFFICIALLY , but UNOFFICIALLY it is in
practice and is a controlling factor in suppression of sailors - particularly
Freedom of inquiry
To avoid
any more problems , have a damage control on the issue and that there's no
possibility that they will find any "dirt" on my social media
accounts. I have to temporarily suspend any publications on my blog until I
could safely assure that the threat of any retaliation is cleared and that I'm
already in the safe distance away from CF Sharp and Norstar.
