Before the global crunch wrought havoc on the economy, Rommel Paguntalan, 37, was like any other father--full of dreams of a bright future for his family. As a second-mate officer in a foreign vessel, he was earning $2,500 (P125,000) a month, by no means a huge amount of income.

But as the economy bore the brunt of the crisis, his dreams quickly vanished into thin air. He was among those who lost their jobs with their vessels laid up. Desperation stared him in the face like a bad nightmare.

However, Paguntalan is made of sterner stuff. Returning penniless and jobless to his hometown in Southern Leyte was the least of his options. He was determined to find a new job, no matter what it took. He found himself walking along sidewalks of T.M Kalaw near Rizal Park in Manila, where he found other unemployment desperate seamen.

“At that time, I didn’t know how to tell my own family that I was unemployed so I hid it to them. They were even unaware that I was in Manila chasing for that stroke of luck to get my job back on a foreign vessel,” he said.

The seaman recalled spending his last penny to rent a dormitory at the Luneta Seafarer’s Center while taking the opportunity to grab the best job offers he could get from a manning agency. An overnight stay in the dorm cost him P200, while food prices are pegged at P40 every meal.

The plight of Paguntalan was just among those that have been played out in the Luneta Seafarer’s Center since its inception in 2007. The center has become a silent, if not supportive witness to every conditions faced by Filipino seamen.

On a daily basis, between 700 to 1,000 seamen troop to the center. Six out of 10 applicants get employed in jobs with good salaries and employment benefits by end of the day.

The Luneta Seafarer’s Center has served as the country’s one-stop center where unemployed seafarers and shipping firms representatives meet. So far, it hosts 112 manning agencies and houses satellite offices of Philippine Overseas Employement Administration (POEA) and other agencies.

Paguntalan scanned every job notices posted on recruiting booths in this sailor’s market. The shade of tall trees that line the sidewalk served as his resting place and to other seafarers who shared the same fate.

“In these challenging times, you should not lose hope regardless of what situation you are up to. I know to myself I was running out of time because I have a family who urgently needed money more than I do,” he said.

The seaman had kept the line of communication with his loved ones back home, talking to them as if he was really nautical miles away onboard a cruising ship. His pretensions lasted for days until it came to an end because of the good news.

Despite the job scarcity amid the recession, a Norwegian oil tanker hired Paguntalan for a fresh two-year employment contract. “It was a different feeling on my part because I got the job when I badly needed it.”