Remittances and allotment of Filipino seafarers

Remittances and allotment of Filipino seafarers
Dennis Gorecho - July 7, 2018 https://www.panaynews.net/remittances-and-allotment-of-filipino-seafarers/

ALLOTMENT has become a common problem in connection with Filipino seafarers’ remittances which comprise at least 22 percent of the total dollar remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Under the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) contract, the Filipino seafarer is required to make an allotment of 80 percent of his basic salary payable once a month to his designated allottee.

The employment contract is the bilateral agreement between the seafarer and his principal, as represented by the manning agency. Like any personal property he can freely dispose or give to anybody without other limitations than those provided by law.

The law requires the inward remittance but not the manner or as to how he will divide nor dispose it. Under this concept, a seafarer’s wife cannot force the agency to remit to her account more than what is allowed by the seafarer. What is required by law is to implement and enforce the required inward remittance of the seafarer’s salaries to the Philippines and not to see whether or not the full amount of the remittance is received by the seafarer’s dependents.

The mandatory remittance required by law does not divest the right of an overseas worker over his hard-earned money or earnings. A seafarer’s earned salary or wage is his exclusive property; the matter of its disposition is his alone and his employer cannot interfere on how salary should be divided and to whom the salary should go.

Nevertheless, one legal recourse of the wife is the filing of a civil case for support. Once the court grants the petition, the said court order should be given to the manning agency and attached to each POEA contract. This will serve as a notice to the seafarer that failure to comply will have legal consequence. The manning agency is likewise bound to abide by said order for the allocation in favor of the wife.

Moreover, a Filipino seafarer can be held criminally liable and be subjected to sanctions due to the act of abandoning his financial obligation to persons to which he is obliged by law to support.

Under the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act promulgated on March 8, 2004, “economic abuse” can be committed against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode.”

Popularly known as VAWC, “economic abuse” is defined as any act that makes or attempts to make a woman financially dependent which includes, but is not limited to the following:

withdrawal of financial support or preventing the victim from engaging in any legitimate profession, occupation, business or activity, except in cases wherein the other spouse/partner objects on valid, serious and moral grounds as defined in
deprivation or threat of deprivation of financial resources and the right to the use and enjoyment of the conjugal, community or property owned in common

If convicted, the seafarer shall be punished by prision mayor, or imprisonment of a minimum of six years and one day to a maximum of twelve years.

He shall also shall pay a fine in the amount of not less than P100,000 but not more than P300,000). The court may likewise expedite the process of issuance of a hold departure order once the case is filed.