Atty. Dennis Gorecho: Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers

Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers
Atty. Dennis Gorecho - Thursday, May 4, 2023 https://www.panaynews.net/magna-carta-for-filipino-seafarers/

“HE WHO has less in life should have more in law” is the wisdom popularized by the late President Ramon Magsaysay as far as the constitutional social justice principle is concerned.

The pending Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers should be the translation into reality of President Magsaysay’s wisdom.

The original Magna Carta is one of the most famous documents in the world, short for Magna Carta Libertatum, the Medieval Latin for “the Great Charter of the Liberties.”

Originally issued by King John of England as a practical solution to the political crisis he faced in 1215, Magna Carta established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law. It dealt with specific grievances relating to his rule.

Some of Magna Carta’s core principles are echoed in the United States Bill of Rights (1791) and in many other constitutional documents around the world, as well as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and the European Convention on Human Rights (1950).

Lord Alfred Thompson Denning, a famous English lawyer and judge, described it as “the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.”

The first version of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers was the by-product of the first National Seafarers Conference held in 2002 at the Manila Hotel and organized by the Stella Maris Philippines in coordination with the office of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.

Years later, several versions were filed by legislators that considered legal developments both locally and internationally, which included the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 (MLC 2006), also known as the Seafarers’ Bill of Rights and the fourth pillar of international maritime law.

The MLC2006 established minimum working and living standards for all seafarers working on ships flying the flags of ratifying countries. The Philippines was the 30th state that deposited its instrument of ratification on Aug. 20, 2012.

The proposed Magna Carta seeks to implement the standards set by MLC2006 to ensure protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino seafarers by recognizing their rights, instituting mechanisms for its enforcement. Nowhere in MLC is any mention of an escrow.

Lord Alfred Thompson Denning, a famous English lawyer and judge, described it as “the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.”

The first version of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers was the by-product of the first National Seafarers Conference held in 2002 at the Manila Hotel and organized by the Stella Maris Philippines in coordination with the office of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.

Years later, several versions were filed by legislators that considered legal developments both locally and internationally, which included the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 (MLC 2006), also known as the Seafarers’ Bill of Rights and the fourth pillar of international maritime law.

The MLC2006 established minimum working and living standards for all seafarers working on ships flying the flags of ratifying countries. The Philippines was the 30th state that deposited its instrument of ratification on Aug. 20, 2012.

The proposed Magna Carta seeks to implement the standards set by MLC2006 to ensure protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino seafarers by recognizing their rights, instituting mechanisms for its enforcement. Nowhere in MLC is any mention of an escrow.

Lord Alfred Thompson Denning, a famous English lawyer and judge, described it as “the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.”

The first version of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers was the by-product of the first National Seafarers Conference held in 2002 at the Manila Hotel and organized by the Stella Maris Philippines in coordination with the office of Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.

Years later, several versions were filed by legislators that considered legal developments both locally and internationally, which included the Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 (MLC 2006), also known as the Seafarers’ Bill of Rights and the fourth pillar of international maritime law.

The MLC2006 established minimum working and living standards for all seafarers working on ships flying the flags of ratifying countries. The Philippines was the 30th state that deposited its instrument of ratification on Aug. 20, 2012.

The proposed Magna Carta seeks to implement the standards set by MLC2006 to ensure protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino seafarers by recognizing their rights, instituting mechanisms for its enforcement. Nowhere in MLC is any mention of an escrow.