Filipino seafarer wins Dutch equal pay case. But he died before seeing victory.

Filipino seafarer wins Dutch equal pay case. But he died before seeing victory.
Lian Buan Aug 23, 2025 https://www.rappler.com/philippines/filipino-seafarer-wins-dutch-equal-p...

'Even though his body has succumbed to the very illness he suffered for nine months while at sea, I hope his story serves as a testament to dignified resilience,' says the wife of a Filipino seafarer who may have possibly changed the course of life for others like him

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino seafarer successfully convinced the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights to issue an opinion that all nationalities aboard Dutch ships must receive the same pay for the same work. However, the seafarer died three months before seeing victory.

“The Board concludes that the shipowner has no valid reason for the indirect discrimination. This establishes that the shipowner discriminated against the Filipino seafarer based on his nationality and race in his remuneration,” the Institute said in its judgment issued on August 18.

The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights acts as an advisor to the government, and although its judgments are not strictly legally binding, it claims that most organizations take action to follow its rulings. It has, in fact, asked the shipowners to state in writing what they “will do to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.”

“We hope that the Dutch shipowners take these decisions of the Institute seriously and implement the recommended changes. It is long overdue to end this discrimination against a category of seafarers, solely based on their nationality and/or race. Should they not change their practices, we will enforce it through the courts,” said the Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation, which led this suit.

When Rappler talked to the Filipino seafarer in 2024, he showed us his diagnosis for “chronic lacunar infarct,” a type of stroke from blocked small arteries in the brain. He said it may have most likely been a result of working on a chemical tanker for years. He also told us the story of having a stroke on board the ship, where he works as a cook, but receiving inadequate medical response from the shipowners.

“My life is now shorter…. If I die, they can continue this case for the future of not just seafarers but also land-based [migrant workers],” he told us in October 2024. He died on May 19, 2025, before seeing the victory that may have possibly changed the course of life for other Filipino seafarers like him.

In a letter written by his wife to inform the Institute of his death, she said: “Our children, [ages 11 and 3], deserve to grow in a world where discrimination is a thing of the past, a subject they study from the colonial past — especially the kind that exists only to circumvent our aspirations to equality.”

“Even though his body has succumbed to the very illness he suffered for nine months while at sea, I hope his story serves as a testament to dignified resilience,” his wife said.