FAREWELL TO MY PARENTS

Journal entry : November 18, 2016

Location: en route to Saudi Arabia

 

 

I Haven't wrote anything on these past couple of days , Probably because I was busy pondering things and received news from my sister that mom has passed away. I was totally devastated to hear the news and wasn't in the mood to do anything even on work - to me everything seems meaningless now, and there's no point in being a sailor anymore. I haven't asked the exact details on how mom died and was in no position to ask, I was simply too grief stricken to know what happened. The only known details I know on mom's death was she died of cardiac congestion, a result from too much creatinine levels in the blood from kidney failure. Before learning of my mom's death , all that I know back home was that the kidney dialysis machines of Amang Rodriguez Hospital broke down and mom was advised to transfer to another hospital for treatment until the machines were fix, the next news that came in after a couple of days was that mom implants and vein "died" and my sister was in a frantic race of either constructing a new implant on mom 's left arm and putting an "IG" cut connecting to mom hearts as a remedy while the new implant is being constructed. Then after that , there was silent communication between me and the house for almost a week.

 

November 10 came by and was busy doing a lot of stuff back home, when I opened my face book page - I was immediately greeted by my younger sisters message informing me that our mom just passed away. There I felt a cold chill upon hearing the news as if some part of me just died, I was grief stricken and couldn't focus on work properly. I was lucky that I always wore a mask and some protective shades , part of my face protection or else they would have seen me having tears or watery eyes.

 

No Words can express my loss of both my parents this year, 5 months ago dad died suddenly now mom died on the same year. My sister and I are now both orphans and alone on this world, so we have to be strong to face what lies ahead in life.

MOONLIGHT IN PAKISTAN

Journal entry : November 09, 2016

Location : Karachi Pakistan

 

Soon after the Saudi Arabia Loading ops was finish, this ship went to its next destination which is Karachi , Pakistan. It took only about roughly three days to reach the area on this ship and from here it will discharge its cargo,

 

So far the weather in Karachi Pakistan is a bit warm compared to Saudi Arabia right now, but the change of temperature is tolerable - feels just like the early summer days in the Philippines. I haven't clarified yet if the discharge operation here will be done on STS (ship to ship transfer) or be done in a port facility, But if it's an STS kind of operation then it's easy for the mooring and Unmooring part.

 

As of the moment , My day work was reduced to being just until 2.45 pm in exchange that there will be a anti - piracy watch for me every midnight, just to keep out people from stealing property from the ship. Basically I think Pakistan is a quiet place and not much fuss will happen here.

 

First few days of Anti-piracy watch was no big deal for me, although sleep was very much needed and most of the time I just went in the corner to take some naps and pictures, The most annoying part of this anti-piracy watch was that our Indian chief mate won't let me rest or take an off - not until the sun rises, which basically is all the way up till 6.30 am, That asshole even disturbed me when I was in the middle of a bath and told me to return to work despite I had already completed my 12mignight to 6am working shift.

 

On the third day of Anti-Piracy watch, I was already finish on my working shift - as in just 15 minutes from being off on work, when suddenly I received a message from the Indian chief mate on the radio telling me to wake up bosun and O.S. mark and that we will be heaving anchor at 6am

 

 

 

TRANSFER OF MOORING STATION

Journal Entry: November 04, 2016 Friday

Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

 

Ship never stayed long on the Fujairah anchorage in UAE, it only stayed for a day just to do provisioning and bunkering and that’s about it,. Surprisingly the weather in Fujairah now is beautiful and somewhat cooler than my previous visit. Definitely very tolerable weather.

 

After this ship business is done in Fujairah, it went towards Saudi Arabia for loading of cargo. This ship stayed there for about three to four days before going to a port facility nearby.

 

The loading operation on Saudi Arabia was real quick , lasted only within at least 12 hours , apparently because only a limited cargo tanks was loaded and not all. During my whole 6 hour long shift , I was very busy being ordered around to check the sounding of the ballast tank. Which meant me having a sounding tape tool all the time.

 

Immediately after my second shift, The whole process of loading was already completed and went straight ahead on unmooring. The mooring stations have been changed for some of the crew which includes me, Apparently me and Pump Man Obina are now assigned on the forward mooring station and were to assist Bosun Rodrigo and O.S. Mark there , Starting now and onwards.

 

Earlier I thought Pump Man Obina was just joking around when he said one time "that were supposedly to be shifted to forward mooring station" , I never took his statement seriously and dismissed it as a joke. Now it turns out that it was for real. Never really liked to be in the forward mooring station to begin with, and it's been a while since I was there - The work there is always hectic and more problematic for me in case I needed something compared to being in the aft mooring station. I was reminded of that distaste when BOSUN keeps bitching around and lecturing me on what to do and not to do during both mooring and unmooring time.

FORMATION OF A GROUP

Blog Entry: October 22, 2016 Saturday

Location : Enroute to Fujairah UAE

 

It's been a week that this ship is adrift in middle of the Indian Ocean, and three weeks since we left the ship yard on Singapore (to be specific 22 days) . There has been no news yet when this ship will be going aside from rough speculation that it might be headed to the middle east to load some cargo,

 

For the moment these past 22 days have been peaceful and doing the same old routine work of deck maintenance for me such as painting , in some occasions I would help Pump man on his usual work in the Pump room maintenance. Most of the time I'm just left to do work in housekeeping part.

 

Lately I had been thinking of forming a face book group, something that is very similar to the successful Wiki Leaks website - only it’s a Philippine Maritime Version.  Exactly like a public disclosure / Intelligence Group for Filipino sailors, I had been long thinking about this because of the suppression of freedom of speech and idea's in this sector. Probably because of my recent dissatisfaction on how the way I was treated by UFS "Seaman's Union" over my discrimination complaints against CF Sharp. They said something that my accusations were baseless and that I was just simply a "troublemaker" , they even threaten me when I was just telling the truth - to simply put they were very bias to CF Sharp , despite self-proclaiming themselves as "Seaman's Union" . Anyway it doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that I'm making my own group , one that is more transparent and not bias, or even influenced by abusive shipping companies here and its main purpose is to provide helpful information and warn Filipino sailors . Currently I'm still thinking of a name to call this group.

 

In other news..

 

Lately I had been experiencing some suspicious "add friends" on my social media account , what more suspicious is that it goes in the same manner that a review agency or company of some sort wants to add me as a friend. Apparently I suspect that this is some form of surveillance of some kind, (likely from whom I made enemies with recently). I suspect this might came from CF Sharp and would be doing "Monitoring" if I posted anything that is against them.  Heck they even "followed" my twitter account, which I blocked the user from ever

 

Well sorry to disappoint this mother fucker, do they think I'm that stupid ?! Seriously their doing a piss poor job when it comes to monitoring and doing surveillance on employee's, I don’t add people who I don’t know personally on my professional social media accounts. So if they really want to find "dirt" on my accounts then they have to be more creative otherwise their just stalking.

 

In news related to work

 

There has now been an update on the voyage travel of this ship - and it doesn’t look pretty. From what I head on Deck Cadet "James" (British National) , the ship will have a loading voyages from Fujairah UAE , then will go to Saudi Arabia and finally somewhere in Pakistan. To sum it up , it’s a middle east voyage.

 

Based on the weather service online (check google), the weather in the middle east should be a bit cooler now compared to last time this ship was here, like somewhere in the 28 degrees Celsius lowest and highest is around 33 to 35 degrees Celsius (like summer weather in the Philippines) . I do hope the weather forecast is accurate, or else I am doomed again on the hot weather.

 

Speaking of which , my private water storage in now down 50 percent after a month. Nothing unusual on that part and I have already stocked up water and food supplies for two months , its normal that the remaining is already half however the problem is about replenishing the water. The water filter is still up to now working properly and produces little water, barely enough to fill a liter.

SUSPICION

Blog Entry: October 18, 2016 Tuesday

Location : Somewhere Adrift in the Indian Ocean

 

Its been a few days (or weeks ) now since the social media scandal I got myself into and I'm starting to think that the crew here already knew what I posted in Facebook. I surmise that it might have already reached here on this ship about the incident, I not sure as well if I'm just being paranoid about it - the only thing I could do for now is kept silent and stay calm even if some of the crew are already joking it lightly and made indirect reference about me and the incident.

 

So what trigger my paranoia again ?! I was already finished helping pump man obina on his work in the pump room in clearing the oil that leaked there and went back to BOSUN Rodrigo in helping put up the anti-piracy razors wires at the deck - everything was doing fine and normal work for about an hour when we suddenly talked about Chief Cook then slowly shifted to me the discussion of the topic and jokingly told by the BOSUN Rodrigo "That because of me and what I posted, he was called recently at the bridge and is now under investigation", then another comment followed by A.B. "Alvin" which didn’t helped saying " It's ok on your posting, all of us here on this ship got dragged in it anyway" .

 

Those indirect comments sent a chill down on my spine even if it’s a hot day (35 degrees Celsius), and Literary broke out in cold sweat. On my perception, What was those joke's mean anyway ??? Is it just a coincidence or probably they knew something about the incident ? And if so , how did they found out ??? . I just kept silent on the joke, but was obviously bothered - it was not noticeable given that I'm clad heavily by working clothes and equipment from head to foot.

 

I still continued on my work., though I was silent as a dead man. Silent but my mind was in full throttle of thinking, especially about the term mentioned "Under Investigation" which in Filipino pop culture meant , "Were finding whose fault it was, and point everything on him". I'm not surprise if this is the case and that CF Sharp Ship management is looking out for blood, (Retaliation and Revenge ). Honestly I do know how this story ends and obviously it's not going to end well for me for speaking out against discrimination.

DRESSED TO BE KILLED

Blog Entry: October 16, 2016

Location : Adrift Somewhere in the Indian Ocean

 

Been basically depressed for a couple of days now and amid fears and paranoia about reprisals coming from CF Sharp. I was busy thinking of the worst case scenario that they could throw at me when UFS blew my cover, and exposed me. Despite the emotional depression I had been having, I still have to act or at least "pretend" nothing happened and do my usual work routine schedule, at least here on these ship only three people knew what happened and even if they have knowledge , they don’t have the full details on what was the trouble I got myself into.

 

This may sound ridiculous , but just to rid myself of depression. I took in some pictures and dressed myself on some good clothes like a wannabe fustrated commercial model - normally I would just go outdoors a little to cope up with the stress but since it's not possible, I just decided to dress up and dress on my best clothes. 

 

And here is what I looked like…

FOR THE BETTER ?

BLOG 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.

POST DRY DOCK REPORT

Journal Entry October 02, 2016 Sunday

Location: Somewhere in Singapore.

 

 

October 01, 2016 in the morning of 8am, this ship has left sembawang dry docks after almost 2 weeks of ship repair. The ship repairs here on this ship is semi successful, mostly some important repairs that need to made are skipped out or  made on shortcut basis. Such example is the gangway ladder which apparently the pneumatic motor was never repaired , and according to what I heard Chiefmate Sydney Douza refused to have it repaired despite knowing the full importance that it should be in working condition.

 

Another problem that was ignored was the cargo piping system - pipe there was never replaced, so expect that this ship will be having black oil leaks every now and then on the deck area. Same story on the Winches as well.

 

The same thing happened also on a lot of things , such as the mid ship cranes and platforms were left unrepaired and in poor condition. Rumour has it and goes on that some senior ranking officials here on this ship got bribed and took the money that was meant for the ship repairs. Of course it’s a rumor and I have no proof on that, and will not even bother to find out. Overall the ship repairs norstar has been bragging about for months was basically just a front, nothing significant was ever achieved and still the ship remains in dilapidated condition. Even the so called "Free Unlimited" internet was just a false advertisement. They had us waiting for months and turns out that it was only limited to 100 MB per crew per month.

 

The biggest problem of all was also the most basic, clean water. The purifier machine has stopped filtering out clean water, basically no water coming out at all, and it's been three weeks now. It was very cruel of the Myanmar Captain 

 

This ship was in anchorage for a week after the ship repairs were made, during those times we received a new set of crew. Gone now are the bitchy Myanmar captain, the fatty cruel Indian chief mate Sydney. Although not all people who went away were that bad, there are some good people who had to leave the ship like the Indian electrician and the Myanmar 2nd engineer. I could say personally that they are good people.

 

The new set of crew this ship received as of the moment seems to be good fellows , but for now I will hold my judgement to them until I had 100 percent verified that they're good people. There are also two new additional crew , a british deck cadet which we call "James" , and a Myanmar Engine Cadet

 

 

MYTHS ABOUT PINOY SEAMAN

 

 

We have seen this posters numerous times already , so many times that it's no longer making any sense at all. This poster I saw on the internet is really interesting however this barely scratches the surface of the reality on being a Filipino sailor, It does provide a general detail but not the specifics and leaves a broader room for interpretation. Some of these facts reflect positive and others negatively and some doesn’t provide the reality.

 

LOADS OF MONEY - true on a financial basis that if you compare it via Philippine standards , Philippine money is way less than that of a U.S. Dollar (or even a Euro). Believe it or not purchasing power in the Philippines is bigger than western countries , and salaries for sailors are based in foreign pay (in U.S. dollars). In the Philippines a 900 U.S. Dollar for Salary for a sailor is a very big money but if you compare that salary in the united states - it is just only equal to a salary of a local fast food worker. If the Philippine peso had an equivalent to 1 : 1 to a U.S. dollar (currently its 45 : 1 dollar exchange) , You definitely don’t want to be a sailor anymore , chances are the 900 U.S. dollars would only just be an equivalent of 900 Philippine Peso , and you absolutely know how limited a 900 pesos goes in the Philippines .In other words LOADS OF MONEY because of the fundamental law of dollar exchange rate against the peso, it's how weak the Philippine economy is.

 

Sailors have loads of money not because they are paid high , but by because of the exchange rate from Philippines versus foreign money. The salary of a sailor actually is equivalent to that of a construction worker overseas.

 

By the way salary is based to the rank of a sailor , Deck cadets are paid only dirt cheap !! (or none at all)

 

ALCOHOL 24 x 7 - liquor is absolute cheap in some cases , even way cheaper than a can of coca cola soft drink and not even the tough restriction of anti-alcohol policy is not enough to deter a sailor from drinking. Alcohol ban is implemented on board a ship but not a practice , more like a "necessary evil" in this community. For short - yes it’s a 24 / 7 drinking galore !

 

GIRLFRIEND IN EVERY PORT. - not exactly a girlfriend, but counts as a relationship in some extent, like sexual relationship that money is involved in the middle. This phrase is somewhat misprounced , the actual term for this should be "every prostitute in every port". This is typically true especially if a sailor is stationed near south America, where sex trade seems to be very common (and suspect even legal). Thing here is this, ITS ALL ABOUT HUMAN NATURE - AND THIS INCLUDES SEX. All of them have been exposed to months not seeing any female at which includes their wives and real girlfriends in the Philippines, which results to them resorting to "paid" sex. Now a days this just happens only to sailors who get stationed in south America or in Asia .

 

Seamanloloko ?????  Being direct -  YES THAT IS ACTUALLY 150 PERCENT TRUE !!

 

ALWAYS SEASICK - This has two meanings , one is biological and other is psychological. Biological in the sense that there is no apparent cure for seasickness. A persons only best bet to alleviate this is that to hope a person's body gets adjusted (or adapted) real quick on the environment. This may takes weeks or a month especially to new sailors, for the veterans - only takes a couple of hours  to adjust and not that severe. Psychological part is that it means that sailors are lazy and use "Seasickness" as an excuse to get away from work, even though they're already been sailors for decades.

 

DEALING WITH PIRATES EVERYDAY - The fact here is this , not all sailors nor even a majority of them get to be stationed on pirate infested areas. Only a small population of Filipino sailors get to deal with this and in only a short amount of time, not every day. In reality this is overly exaggerated accounts. The only thing you have to deal with here is the rude and lack of proper manners of fellow sailors - in particular our own kind .

 

There's a saying : "the fiercest and most cold blooded maltreatment comes from one's own kind" . That's how Filipino seaman's are in the actual work

 

GET TO SEE THE WORLD FOR FREE - this is the most common (and oldest) propaganda you see when you study the course Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation. Most kids who study being sailor get confused with this 90 percent of the time, plus add more to the confusion is the quasi false "militaristic" kind of education propaganda and voila you got tons of enrolees per sem. Little do they know that after that a lot of injustice and maltreatment awaits them after they finished schooling such as NO GUARANTEED JOB ASSURANCE AND SECURITY (YOU WONT GET EMPLOYED UNLESS YOU HAVE A  SPONSOR - backer for short) , UNDERPAID, OVER WORK AND EXPLOITED, AND WORST NO ACCESS TO A LAWYER OR LABOUR UNIONS.  See the world free is just only half right since a ship goes around on all sorts of places, technically a sailor is basically imprisoned and trapped inside for the whole duration of the contract with little or no chance of going to shore and most of the time you're not even allowed to go out . If there is - its only less than 5 hours overall. In reality it’s a slow painful death like prison.

 

Being a sailor in the Philippines isn't exactly the most secured job around, its CONTRACTUAL WORKER.

 

GLAMOUROUS LIFE. - There is another misconception about being a sailor , true indeed that most of the sailors can afford stuff that most people can't in the Philippines. They can afford that not because Filipino sailors salaries are paid high from the start but because of the Philippines PESO versus U.S. Dollar Difference (as what I mentioned earlier) . In the Philippines that U.S. dollar (or european euro) salary converted may mean a lot and can go a long way, In the U.S. and Europe that salary received by a sailor is nothing more than the standard pay for construction manual job which is not even enough to buy a thermal underwear for winter on the local store there.

 

6 MONTHS LAND AND 6 MONTHS AT SEA - Typically seafarers contracts ranges from 6 months to 10 months working in a ship, though there are some reports that Greek employers hold their crew even longer that lasted for years (and from what I heard the longest was 2 years) . Now if a person pictures himself being into prison on the that duration then you'd definitely know how ugly working of a sailor is., And after spending almost the whole year being imprison on a ship , you get only a relief of two months before again going back into prison er.. I mean working back on a ship and repeating the horror again - it's like being in an environment with no TV, No letters, No internet - nothing to keep yourself occupied beyond work . That is the usual cycle of life of a sailor - rinse and repeat , you will miss and skip a lot of important things in life during that time like your marriage anniversary, you kids first birthday , etc. and as a result of being an absent and never there , a sailor's life is nothing but a dysfunctional one.
 

UNEDUCATED FOOLS -  This is somewhat half right.  In some extent almost all Filipino sailors did have a formal education on the college level, But if you ask what kind of studies did he / she received in college or what kind of teaching methods are used and in practice there , then I could say it's very limited and totally unrelated on the actual job practice. One such sample is that most sailors often tell as an excuse is that they study celestial navigation, marine engineers etc. - those lectures in reality doesn’t even come close compared to what doctors , lawyers, teachers or even engineers study on the course of his / her college time, as a matter of fact you can finish the this so called "college course within less than a year" (if your brain intelligence is equivalent to that of a "doctor" or even a lawyer) . It's even debated that the college course of a sailor (bachelor of science in marine transportation) is not "bachelor of science" at all , in fact European countries consider education on sailors to be technical and vocational type - (doesn't even pass for a four year college course) 

 

As a sailor , a functioning brain is highly unnecessary on the job practice. If a sailor has a brain , it's definitely not used for logical and analytic thinking like some other professional jobs do or even used for work at all. - Its only used for keeping him alive (like breathing and heartbeat pulse, similar to a zombie or a mindless insect drone). And if in a special case a sailor has some brains, chances are he / she should hid his talents otherwise some other co-worker sailors will get jealous because of this (see their primitive prehistoric brains ;) )

 

FIGHTING WARS - This problem is not directly related and more of an indirectly problem. Earlier so called pioneers in maritime education in the Philippines came from fundamentalist militaristic schools (sort of like during the 1950's era were seafaring job wasn’t even heard of back then). Despite this job being entirely civilian , it is often and always get confused with the branch of the military (navy).Being a pinoy seaman in reality has nothing to do with the military. We're not soldiers, were not a foreign legion , or even come close to an armed militia . Seaman is nothing more and is always a construction / maintenance worker , of if you put it it’s a non-military and purely civilian work .If you look closely the closest classification of a  "seaman" are more related to construction workers based in the middle east (and cousin based on my observation) , the only difference is that instead of dry desert , a "seaman" is on wet water surroundings and inside a huge machine (known as a ship). Both of these class of workers have the same type of equipment and even job hierarchy , and yes seaman also has a foreman and is just called in a different term called "bosun".

 

The reason why pinoy seaman (or Marino) get confused often to the military is because of simple common terminologies shared in work,  (I admit these technical terminologies is used in the military as well) . Beyond that there is nothing similar in anyway at all in being a seaman to a navy,

 

If we get to sign up on a contract, were given a set of working clothes and some protective industrial equipment - nothing more nothing less , Definitely not firearms , NO BDU's (battle dress uniforms), Not anything that blows up stuff or hurt people. 

 

GREAT SWIMMERS - Not all sailors are actually swimmers or even good in the water to begin with. Some sailors (such as myself) cannot swim at all , probably because we knew that once were in the water , that will be the end of us . So as much as possible we stay out of it. Working as a sailor you don’t get to actually get to work submerged on the water , you get to work on a ship which is basically floating on a water called sea - point here is that swimming skills are not necessary.

 

NOTHING TO DO AT SEA - being a sailor, a lot of people are basically wondering on what are we actually doing inside the ship and are lead to believe that were are just doing nothing there but sit out our fat asses during the whole duration of the whole contract, and to make it more misleading is that pictures on sailors fed back in the Philippines are mostly stuff related to barbecue grills and food, making people think that were just there to eat , sleep and waste time.

 

Of course the ship is a 24 / 7 workplace and a lot of times you get to work on the weary hours of the night, and since it’s a 24/ 7 workplace it means that most of the time there's no holidays and the work sailors do are maintenance construction work. Expect that there will be situations that a sailor will be dragged out in the middle of the night (as in 2am) just to do work and force him / her on the working thread mill for more than 24 hours. Fine with some as long as they're getting paid, but The biggest insult to that is that when the first mate sees you're work time card (yes , we do have that in the ship) registers beyond the normal 8 to 12 hours of work , he'd force you to cheat your whole time card by reducing the extra working hours, making the other excess working hours beyond 12 to be absolutely non-existent and totally unpaid ,

 

Imagine a situation that you're working on one of the worst workplaces on earth and you're not even getting paid for it, (or even being paid right) 

 

Finally I'm writing this not because of prejudice, but because of reality and transparency on what is actually happening and in practice, this more fact than the first law of thermodynamics. Fact that almost all of my own kind, refuse to acknowledge or even believe that this is happening in the Philippine maritime community. I am aware that my writing will always be the subject of skepticism and criticism to my fellow brethren , but as writer and person who witnessed it firsthand that is what I have to tell and I'm sticking to it.

THE DARK SIDE OF UNITED FILIPINO SEAFARERS

Entry on Journal : September 25, 2016

Location : Sembawang Shipyard, Singapore

 

 

"United Filipino Seafares is no longer a self proclaimed workers union but is now a commercial enterprise that harasses critics and brutally exploits its member sailors , and acts as an unofficial police force on its member shipping companies on any of their employees who would go rogue. They cannot protect Filipino sailors rights nor even its interest "  

 

                                                                                           - Unknown Filipino Sailor -

 

Lots of things have went by in a couple of days, most the time I spent was exploration of the whole Singapore island. Trying to see things , afterall I think there's not going to be another opportunity to see this place in years or maybe not at all in the future - so I'm seizing the moment.

 

Lately since communications are now better , I decided to post something on the social media - actually in facebook groups. I posted the topic about the discriminatory and racist bond store treatment here on this ship, I posted a picture telling that Filipino's are the only ones that should pay for their bond in cash, Of course it caught the attention of one of the members of UFS (United Filipino Sailors) and turns out they said a reply saying that I shouldn't post anything damaging to a company and its principal as it jeopardizes Filipino jobs. If I post any more negative remarks on the social media , there is a possibility that the principal will pull out and leave some Filipino's job less. If I have a complaint about discrimination on why Filipino's are the only ones that have to pay for the bond store in cash. I should directly file a complaint on CF Sharp (the manning agency responsible) and tell them my grievances, even threaten that they will report me (indirectly implied "black list" me and will never find work again as a sailor) that I'm posting a "black propaganda" and will feel the full fury of CF Sharp and Norstar principal on my "irresponsible" social media posting. In simple terms they are siding with the company and its principal, and have sold me out - plain and simple. Bastards even threatened me and gave example of people in the past who questioned the wrong doings of the companies ended up being blacklisted

 

WHAT THE FUCK ??!! JESUS. H. CHRIST !!! , Well never saw it coming, Anyway Haven't they thought that the reason why I'm posting this was because it jeopardizes Filipino's jobs because of unfair treatment , This so called seafaring industry should not be based on numbers alone but on what quality of working conditions there is. Filipino's may have the highest numbers of sailors out there but that doesn't mean that we are treated fairly and equally. The problem with them is that they base the quality of Filipino work in number's on a paper and not on the standard working conditions.

 

For the record the thing I posted in Facebook group "Tinig ng Marino" , is not a complaint but an inquiry. Meaning I'm not complaining but asking, whether the answer is positive or negative - it doesn’t matter and let the readers in public decide for themselves. 

 

It's a shame and ironic that they call themselves "The workers union" and yet they are powerless to protect people and even favour huge companies and principal (and as matter of fact even help the companies). Its true that they do most of the time, they do fight for workers' rights , but when it comes to questioning the authority and company principals - the wind shifts and all of a sudden, "the worker's Union" become foe than an ally and they "sell-out" people. Their main reason to them is "that if we question the principal and its policies, chances are that principals will pull out their business and there will be no more jobs left for Filipino sailors" . To simply put any negative inquiry to them , of any wrong doing is considered taboo and should not be discussed. To simply say , the United Filipino Sailors is either afraid of the companies (or principals) or protecting them.

 

Nelson Ramirez reply on my posting made even emphasis that some of the Filipinos sailors who filed a million dollar medical claim for industrial accidents like the 2nd engineer he specifically mentioned that got his hand chopped off. He said that the engineers claim was malicious and was plainly money driven, and that he jeopardized Filipino jobs because of this. Now the point here is this, would Mr. Nelson Ramirez think that it's easy for the 2nd engineer to get his hand chopped off in the accident ? What would Mr. Nelson Ramirez feel if it was his hand that get severed ? . The labour court have already decided that the 2nd engineer should be awarded on his accident claims and it is only his right to do so after what happened to him, the court in the Philippines are not that stupid and analyze thoroughly the case of the claimant and found the engineer to be valid. Of course as a retaliation from the principal, they axed a few jobs. To him the bad guy on his story was the 2nd engineer, not the principal who unethically launched a retaliation which axed a few jobs.

 

So to them my understanding is that , its ok to be discriminated, treated poorly and unfairly like a dog as long as we get to keep those jobs. If that is they're way of life according to "UFS" and Mr. Nelson Ramirez. - THEN ITS SURVIVING, BUT NOT LIVING. They reason out that compared to Myanmar and Indian's, Filipino's have more benefits. Yes it's true that Filipino's might have some edge over those nationalities but those benefits are just only paper when you can't use them because of discrimination and racism. Basically to them the meaning of being number 1 in the maritime industry is by numbers on the paper, that do not reflect the actual good working conditions and that the principal is the absolute authority of this business, and of course their so called "Workers Union" who acts more of like its own private police force, to protect not the people but their business. The reason why their organization became a lapdog was because the UFS itself benefits on the sponsorship money (advertisements on their propaganda material "TINIG NG MARINO") given by the companies thus in exchange give them protection in return to any would be threats and complaints from any of their former crews , either valid or not.

 

The reality is this, any company (and principal) who is not a member of their UFS union can be criticize but any company (and principal) who is a member get protection. ( Hmpf sounds more like an organized "legal" mafia rather than a real workers union who fights for labour rights )       

 

It’s a shame that once I had high regards to Mr. Ramirez the leader of the so called self-proclaim workers union called "United Filipino Sailors", but now seeing this makes me turn my head in dismay and disgust probably because I didn’t knew better that his ideals had a price. He always waves about his awards accumulated , even brags he's the "Champion" of the Filipino Seafarers workers Union and yet his words and actions tell the opposite. Those awards he won are just basically wood made out of the blood of his fellow Filipino sailors which he sold out to the principal and companies. His lectures and propaganda in Facebook groups if examined closely tell more of being a "PRO-Company" than pro workers, one such example is his lecture about "AGE LIMITATION" - then after the lecture he advertises his so called "financial" seminar for sailors , which apparently I think has a fee and profits out of the misery of other rather instead of giving solutions to old over aged sailors . If you read it closely , the principals words to him are law - and from my understanding even above the Philippine law. He even scorns sailors who have medical claim disputes to principals. 

 

Even his so called help to "cadets" are basically not help at all - it might look as he was helping but if you look closely those "Volunteer" cadets are just making a tradeoff to work on the manual labour of his office in exchange for sweet words and recommendations and influence over shipping companies. In other words his exploiting them and taking advantage of the cadets desperation on the lack of jobs in this "Maritime Field", as like any other shipping company out there. If he is  really sincere and want to help those cadets (like other workers union in europe), then help them without asking anything in return or a tradeoff - plain and simple. For me it’s a form of enslavement as what Benvenido Lorque accused them when he defected from UFS. Basically he's letting those exploited and poor cadets work for free (unpaid) and without any proof of a "contract" that these cadets work , by the end of the day if the cadet is in bad terms with him (or any staff )  - he can just simply deny the fact that the cadet (or staff) didn't even worked at all or never even existed if he wants to .   

 

Despite my disgust over the "union" , I am powerless to tackle the "union" itself probably because they are backed by Collective union of the abusive shipping companies and principals. Anybody who would go against them or gets in their way (along with their so called "workers union" which is now private police force "United Filipino Sailors") will probably be crushed and incarcerated or in my situation "black listed" . I remember one of my favorite scientist , his name was "Galileo Galilei" who said that the earth was not in the center of the universe and incurred the wrath of the roman catholic church (a major authority and force to reckon with during that time). His inquires had him being condemned and put under house arrest for the rest of his life,,. Few hundred years later after his death , people found out he was telling the truth, and it was only in the 80's that a public apology from the church was made. His ideas stands as a symbol of a lifelong struggle to free inquiry over authority and the dogmas of theology

 

To begin with my ideas are unpopular and if there is any evidence that will be used against me , there is no safest place but inside my head. Keep it all up there nothing more and anyone who goes toe to toe against the "Union" (Called United Filipino Sailors) will get crushed or suffer a worst fate like harassment, threats and filing of numerous law suits against its critics , . They have the machinery and money to make things go their way plus a horde of overzealous fanatics,

 

United Filipino Sailors is no longer a workers union but now it's a commercial enterprise that harasses critics and brutally exploits its member sailors , and acts as an unofficial police force on its member shipping companies on any of their employees who would go rogue. They cannot and refuse to protect Filipino sailors rights nor even its interest   

 

I knew the risk of telling the truth would be a very high price, be as it may as this is the rule in the Philippine Maritime Community - I'm not telling people to believe me nor telling them not to believe, What I'm telling is that they should make their choice what I am saying is my story. 

 

 

EXTRA FACTS …..

 

Here is some clips I had accumulated on some research , it's up to the people reading this to balance the facts. This is a month long personal investigation on this person and some facts here are based on what he's former right hand , and former associate C/E Bienvinido Lorque, leaked in public. 

 

*Mr. Nelson Ramirez is not a Chief Engineer, as what he initially states in public, instead the truth was he was a Second Engineer instead and that he was only a high school graduate. He didn’t even went to a college course at all like Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering. Compared to Filipino Sailors nowadays that are actual graduates of BSMT or BSME course. He fabricated the lie to brainwash the public thinking that he was a respectable person , but deep inside the mask is that he is no more than an extortionist thug

 

*He claims to be a graduate of Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) , but in reality he was only "adopted" by the said school. He didn’t even attended classes there at all (since he's only a high school graduate)

 

*according to lorque, United Filipino Seafarers and its Media Arm "Tinig ng Marino" is a dummy organization and practically doesn’t exist at all and that only Nelson Ramirez is the person who is pulling the string to make it look like the organization really exists. In reality the workers union was actually just a front for his numerous personal business

 

*According to Lorque, United Filipino Seafarers is engaged in widespread extortion activities in the Philippine Maritime Community.

 

*C/E Lorque stated and confirmed that Ramirez is involve in a conspiracy money scam , involving training centers and shipping companies. Using UFS organization as a front, claims that his "Dummy" board members were actually owners of shipping companies and Training Centers.

 

*He also added that the profits made by UFS , are being diverted to his assets (and farm / ranch) and personal bank accounts. In other words , he is pocketing the money from the workers union to himself. Making it his personal money making business and savings account

 

*Another information that Chief Engineer Lorque leaked was that the UFS and nelson ramirez was also engaged in "Ambulance Chasing" , Contrary to their propaganda against labour lawyers and law firms and accuse them of unethical  practice. He mentioned that UFS takes some cut on labour money court claims by sailors who sought their help and mentioned something like CBA 60 / 70 word, this involves a huge amount of money (as in millions of pesos) and always ends up Nelson Ramirez getting a huge portion of the claim, pocketing it to himself instead of the victim.  

 

*Nelson P. Ramirez, has been on the Philippines for almost 22 years and despite the fact that he's unofficially unemployed , He has amassed a huge wealth and brags about his farm and office even has its own quasi media arm news paper called "Tinig ng Marino"