ALMA: Amend Magna Carta for Seafarers

ALMA: Amend Magna Carta for Seafarers
Yashika F. Torib August 11, 2021 https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/08/11/business/maritime/alma-amend-magn...

A group of local maritime employers is pushing for the amendment of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers which was recently lobbied to become a priority legislative measure of President Rodrigo Duterte.

According to the Association of Licensed Manning Agencies (ALMA), the proposed Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers has provisions that are unnecessary and merely imposes an excessive burden on the employment of Filipino seafarers aboard vessels in international trade.

ALMA comprises 57 agencies acting as a marine human resource that deploys some 160,000 Filipino seafarers on international sea-going vessels.

Marino Partylist Representatives Sandro Gonzalez and Macnell Lusotan, during their meeting with the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO), explained the necessity of seafarers to have "a primary instrument that explicitly protects the rights of land-based and sea-based mariners to just terms and conditions of work, self-organization, educational advancement and training at a reasonable and affordable cost, free legal consultation, and access to communication facilities."

"We urge the Senate to focus on passing the Magna Carta bill this year because it is part of our obligation as a member of the International Maritime Organization and signatory to international maritime conventions and instruments," Lusotan said.

Gonzales added that without the said Magna Carta, Filipino seafarers will be vulnerable to abusive agencies, poor working conditions, and financial challenges even after retirement.

"When put into law, not only will the bill add more safety and security for our mariners at work. It will encourage newcomers to join the industry, enhancing our country's economic potential," Gonzales said.

In its position paper, however, ALMA insists that all these are already contained in the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) 2006.

"Filipino seafarers and all seafarers for that matter are already heavily protected globally by the [MLC]. Its provisions apply to all ships in all parts of the world regardless of where the vessel is sailing. No other global worker is as heavily protected as the seafarers and no other industry is as heavily regulated as shipping with very advanced and nuanced regulations covering a jurisdiction beyond national borders," the group said.

ALMA also strongly emphasized that there should be focused legislation on what the group claims as an "unjust and unfair claims environment in the country."

It pointed out that over the years, most seafarer claims were resolved by the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) and National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in favor of the seafarers, but many turn out to be wrong decisions upon the final judgment of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.

The group claims, " To date, Php 1.66 Billion (USD 34.5 million) worth of damages were awarded to the seafarers by the NCMB or NLRC as judgment but eventually overturned by the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court and ruled to be false or erroneous claims without merit.

The shipowners/employers have not recovered the staggering amount of Php 1.66 Billion (USD 34.5 million) that was wrongfully awarded by the NLRC and NCMB despite the final judgment of the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court. "

It furthered that the Magna Carta will only pose a risk to the employment of Filipino seafarers should foreign shipowners decide to hire other seafaring nationalities.

ALMA added that the Filipino seafarers, in reality, are being exploited by ambulance chasers who encourage litigation by filing "frivolous and spurious claims."