Jobless seaman turns to food delivery amid COVID-19

A Filipino seafarer who lost his job due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic had turned to food delivery to earn a living, according to Mariz Umali's Friday report on "24 Oras."

Nino Estrella Mercader Jr. was about to spend his third year aboard a cruise ship when his voyage was canceled, an incident he considered a blessing in disguise.

"Ito naman ay aking madaling natanggap dahil with the current situation dahil world pandemic nga ito, hindi lang naman ang bansa natin ang affected dito kundi buong mundo," the 33-year-old said.

"[T]inanggap ko na lang din kasi iniisip ko na rin 'yung kaligtasan ko," he added.

To provide for his family, he decided to join a delivery group on Facebook.

Even amid his own hardships, Mercader wanted to do his part in helping his fellow countrymen by offering a 20 percent discount.

"Nandoon na tayo sa same danger, ma'am, sa paglabas-labas natin. Kaya naman ako nag-offer ng lower rate, isa na rin kasi ito sa way ko para makatulong sa kanila during this pandemic season," Mercader said.

"Dahil 'yung matititpid nila sa akin or ng customer nila, pwede na nilang ipangdagdag pang-bili ng necessities nila. Usually, I give them 20 percent discount," he added.

Mercader has already applied to a delivery company for additional profit. However, Mercader said this is only temporary as it was his dream to work on a cruise ship.

"Ako, gugustuhin kong bumalik sa barko kasi 'yun talaga ang tunay kong trabaho. Una sa lahat, bread and butter ko 'yun. Talagang gusto ko 'yung ginagawa ko sa barko. May goal ako na ma-promote sa barko," he said

"Ang pag-start naman sa pagiging nasa ibaba ay normal lang naman 'yan kasi sa buhay naman walang, walang isang shortcut sa isang tagumpay," he added. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News