The Filipino seafarers' legal issues

THE Philippines is considered a major supplier of maritime labor globally. It is estimated that there is one Filipino seafarer for every four complements  on board a vessel at any time.

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data showed that there are 367,166 Filipino seafarers with POEA-approved contracts deployed in 2013. In 2014, the deployed seafarers brought in US$5,575,722,000 as dollar remittances. The sea-based sector’s remittance comprises at least 22 percent of the total dollar remittances of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The seafarer, like other OFWs, is often looked up to as one of today’s heroes who, through the huge remittances in billions of dollars they earn, have propped up our economy. These remittances help spur domestic consumption in the Philippines and a key ingredient in the country’s drive to achieve higher but sustainable growth.

Given the vast Philippine coast line (twice that of the United States and nearly three times more than China’s), Filipinos have natural maritime instincts that place them at an advantage over other nationalities. Foreign shipowners are known to prefer Filipino seafarers for equally important qualities: dedication and discipline, industry, flexibility, loyalty, English language fluency, adaptability, positive work attitude, law-abiding, and problem-solving capability.

Despite the glorification of his economic contribution, he is not given the benefits he deserves. In fact, he is especially economically vulnerable because of the nature of his employment which is periodic, i.e., a short term of not more than one-year per contract. He does not have security of tenure, nor entitled to retirement benefits and usually pays for his own training.

Away from his family and working on board vessels sailing non-stop for weeks or months the world’s oceans, he is mentally and emotionally stressed. Constantly exposed to fluctuating temperatures caused by variant weather changes of extreme hot and cold as the ships cross ocean boundaries, not to mention harsh weather conditions, the risks of his getting killed, injured or ill are high.

As if working under these difficult conditions are not enough, when he sustains injury, illness or lose his life, seldom does he receive full compensation provided under the law and contract because his employer does not hesitate to harness its immense resources to limit its liability.

When he or his heirs claim for compensation for death, disability or illness, in the determination of whether or not the cause of death is work-connected, or the gravity or grading of the injury, the decision makers more often than not relies on the biased medical opinion of the company designated physician over that of his personal physician.

In many instances, he signs Receipt and Quitclaim documents thereby releasing his employers from all claims, demands and causes of action without even understanding their contents. Oftentimes, he is misled into accepting an ex-gratia, miniscule amount, in the guise that his condition is either not work-connected, or for any other reason for which he does not comprehend.

More often than not, he knows that he is being cheated of his rights, but how can he question his employer in these instances, without putting at risk his chances of getting employed again?

He has no choice but sign his employment contract, a contract of adhesion, that contains terms and conditions formulated more favorable to his employer and even though it is littered with ambiguous provisions, generalizations, technicalities that he does not understand.

In sum, the basic seafarers’ issues, among others, include (a) illegal recruitment; (b) illegal dismissal; (c) non-payment or underpayment of salaries and wages; (d) disability benefits due to injury or illness and (e) death benefits.

Basically, his legal rights emanate from the following sources: (a) the Philippine Constitution; (b) the Labor Code; (c) Civil Code of the Philippines; (d) international maritime conventions, and (e) the standard employment contract.

The welfare of every seafarer is best safeguarded when the seafarer himself is fully aware of his rights and prerogatives that need to be expounded. Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Puno emphatically stressed in the case of Chavez vs. Bonto-Perez (242 SCRA 73), the need for our OFWs, including the seafarers, for legal protection:

“Our overseas workers constitute an exploited class. Most of them come from the poorest sector of out society. They are thoroughly disadvantaged. Their profile shows they live in suffocating slums, trapped in an environment of crime. Hardly literate and ill health, their hope lies in jobs they can hardly find in our country. Their unfortunate circumstance makes them easy prey to avaricious employers. They will climb mountains, cross the seas, endure slave treatment in foreign lands just to survive. Out of despondence, they will work under subhuman conditions and accept salaries below the minimum. The least we can do is to protect them with our laws in our land”