43 Filipino fishermen held in Indonesia for 6 months return home

The fishermen who arrived from Indonesia said the company that sent them should be held accountable/Tetch Torres-Tupas, INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Forty-three Filipino fishermen finally got back home Monday after a six-month detention in Indonesia.

The fishermen, whose names were not immediately available, arrived on board Cebu Pacific Flight 5J760 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 at around 5:30 a.m. from Indonesia.

The Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa (Sentro) and the Geneva-based International Union of Food (IUF)  assisted the fishermen for their repatriation.

The Sentro accused the company Citra Mina, one of the country’s biggest tuna exporters, of illegally sending the fishermen to Indonesia. When they arrived there, they were arrested by authorities and detained for six months.

“Citra Mina should compensate all the fishermen for the whole time they were stuck in Ternate Island in Indonesia,” said Josua Mata, Sentro secretary general.

Mata said they would prepare the affidavits in preparation for the filing of a case against the company.

Akbayan Representative Walden Bello has pushed for a congressional inquiry on Citra Mina for alleged labor and human rights violations and its culpability in what had happened to the 43 fishermen.

The company was in the news in 2013  after it was accused of illegally terminating 235 workers.