Ship chef turns to selling fish as COVID-19 leaves millions jobless

According to Manal Sugadol’s report on “Stand for Truth,” a Social Weather Stations survey found that 27.3 million Filipinos or 45.5 percent lost their jobs amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

It's a massive leap in unemployment numbers compared to the previous record high jobless figure of  7.9 million unemployed from a December 2019 survey.

Most of those left jobless during the pandemic were overseas Filipino workers, among them Rain Paul Cervantes, who was a cruise ship chef for three-year but now finds himself selling fish as an ambulant vendor.

“Sa una po talagang aaminin ko nahiya po talaga ako na ganito ‘yung ginagawa ko na dati isa akong chef sa barko tapos nang nangyari ‘yung ganito, diyan na lang po ako sa labas, nagtitinda, marami pong nakatingin na bakit naging ganyan,” Rain Paul Cervantes said.

Cervantes added that he also had to do other things to make a living.

“So naisipan ko po na mag negosyo muna po ng paglalako ng isda. Pero hindi lang po ‘yun ‘yung naging isang negosyo ko na pang-tawid sa pandemya ngayon habang wala pang trabaho. Nag-titinda rin po ako ng almusal sa umaga, ulam sa tanghali, atsaka nag ba-barbeque po ako sa hapon,” he said.

Among his eight siblings, only Cervantes finished his studies, making him the family’s breadwinner. He was also just a child when his father died.

“Bilang isang breadwinner, hinihikayat ko po ‘yung mga kapatid ko na magkaroon kami ng maliit na mga negosyo, ‘yung kagaya ng mag pino-post ko na makakatulong po sa amin na maka tawid lang sa pang araw-araw buhat po ng wala kaming trabaho lahat,” he said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/DVM, GMA News