2000: Fifth National Seafarers' Day

The Fifth   National Seafarers' Day was celebrated on  September 24, 2000   with the theme "MARINONG FILIPINO: Panindigan N'yo ang Tiwala ng Mundo " at the Philippine Coast Guard  Compound, South Harbor Manila. 

Former president Fidel V. Ramos earlier issued on July 9, 1996 Proclamation No. 828 declaring August 18 as National Seafarers Day wherein  the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) was tasked to coordinate with the public and private sector in   activities related to the celebration of said event. The purpose of the Proclamation is to give due recognition to the vital role of Filipino seafarers towards the development of the Philippines as a maritime country. Later,  Proclamation No.1094 was issued in 1997 by President Ramos which moved NSD    to every  last Sunday of September every year. 

Per 2000 government data, there were 198,324 documented seafarers deployed abroad with employment contracts approved by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)  with dollar remittances reaching US$926.68. Present data showed that there were 367,166 Filipino seafarers deployed in 2013  with dollar remittances of US$5.575 billion in 2014. 

The  recipients for the  2000 Outstanding Seafarers of the Year Award  (OSYA) include  the following: 

CAPT. HERNANDO S. EUSEBIO

C/E GENEROSO T. MAMARIL

C/E BIENVENIDO R. MARANAN

ENGR. TOMAS N. OROLA

BOSUN MICHAEL STEPHEN YAP

The amended POEA  contract came into effect  on 26th June 2000 which incorporated the requirement for  Work-relatedness of  illness, injury or death for entitlement for benefits, unlike in the old POEA contracts. Work-related injury is defined as "injury(ies) resulting in disability or death arising out of and in the course of employment". The basic requirements for compensability are that the injury arose "out of and in the course of employment" and that it occurred during the term of the contract.The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled that an injury is work-related if it occurs in the workplace and the employee was performing his official duties. However, exceptions to the "injury at the workplace" doctrine is the "coming-going" rule which states that an employee proceeding to and from his place of employment and an employee charged with some duty or special errand outside the workplace will still be compensated if injured. Work-related illness is "any sickness resulting to [sic] disability or death as a result of an occupational disease listed under Section 32-A of this contract with the conditions set therein satisfied".

Section 32-A states that "for an occupational disease and the resulting death or disability to be compensable, all of the following conditions must be satisfied:

(1) The seafarer's work must involve the risks described therein;

(2) The disease was contracted as a result of the seafarer's exposure to the described risks;

(3) The disease was contracted within a period of exposure and under such factors necessary to contract it;

(4) There was no notorious negligence on the part of the seafarer."

Further, each of the 21 illnesses listed under Section 32-A enumerate certain conditions for the illnesses to be work-related. It is important to review these conditions, as they are material to the determination of whether the illness is work-related.

The 22nd National Seafarers Day is all  set on September 24,2017  with the theme "Marinong Filipino: Nag-uugnay sa Mundo!". 

The #NSD22 #NSD2017 activities nationwide led by the #ApostleshipoftheSea ( #AOS ) include the Memorial at Sea, High Mass, Oratorical/ Art/ Photo Contest, Harana by the Bay, Boodlefight, Karaoke challenge, and the Search for Top Ten Outstanding Maritime Students. One of the highlights is the Grand Parade to be participated in by more than 4000 stakeholders from maritime schools, government agencies, manning agencies, training centers, maritime organizations, unions, families and private institutions