Saturday, November 05, 2005
Talk back: Canneries not in GenSan
By General Santos City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.
An article entitled “Gensan Tuna canneries to close, file notices to lay off 26,000 employees” appeared Sun.Star Cebu on Oct. 29, 2005. It stated, among others, that five fish canneries are closing down because of financial problems brought about by rising production cost, and that 26,000 employees are to lose their jobs.
On behalf of the General Santos City Chamber of Commerce Industry Inc., we would like to set the record straight:
--All five canneries mentioned in the article are in Zamboanga City, not General Santos City.
--Almost all other media organizations correctly reported the location, and ownership of these canneries except Sun.Star.
We believe your reporter misquoted the source of the information, or your source (Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas) may have incorrectly identified the city concerned.
Whatever the case, and in the interest of truth and accuracy, may we ask that a correction of this news article be made? We have received so many statements of concern not only locally but also from other countries.
Rest assured that despite the problems besetting the country, job generation and retention is a priority concern of our city government and our chamber of commerce.
(The story, which saw print on the business section of Sun.Star on Oct. 29, came from the Agence France Press, a wire service that Sun.Star subscribes to. Sun.Star was unaware that the five canning factories that the report mentioned were actually located in Zamboanga, not General Santos City. Sun.Star merely reprinted the AFP story, with minor editing.--Liberty A. Pinili of Sun.Star Cebu’s business section)
(November 5, 2005 issue)
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