A
job of a seafarer is not exactly a walk in the park. 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. He performs duties and responsibilities as instructed or as
necessary.
What
makes the job more difficult, aside from exposure 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 job obviously entails laborious manual
tasks conducted in a moving ship, which makes them vulnerable to increased work-related stress. In some
instances, a seafarer unfortunately dies due to illness or injury. The shipping industry and seafaring
profession are likewise not without incident or peril. There are
maritime disasters that result in the loss of life of
and injury to Filipino seafarers .
Under an
employment contract duly approved by the Philippine Overseas Employment
Administratio (POEA), in the case of work-related death of the seafarer, during
the term of his contract, the employer
shall pay his beneficiaries the Philippine Currency equivalent to the amount of
Fifty Thousand US dollars (US$50,000) and an additional amount of Seven
Thousand US dollars (US$7,000) to each child under the age of twenty-one (21)
but not exceeding four (4) children, at the exchange rate prevailing during the
time of payment.The amount usually is higher if the death is covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
Case law
explains that "the words 'arising out of' refer to the origin or cause of
the accident, and are descriptive of its character, while the words 'in the
course of' refer to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident
takes place. As a matter of general proposition, an injury or accident is said
to arise 'in the course of employment' when it takes place within the period of
the employment, at a place where the employee reasonably may be, and while he
is fulfilling his duties or is engaged in doing something incidental
thereto."
Under the 1996 POEA Standard Employment
Contract (SEC), for disability or death to be compensable, it was
sufficient that the seafarer suffered injury or illness during the term of his
employment. The cause of illness or death is immaterial.
However,
through the lobbying of the principals and their manning agencies, the
restrictive clause “work-related” was added under Section 20 (B) of the
2000 POEA SEC to limit their liabilities.
The 2000
POEA SEC defined "work-related injury" as "injury(ies) resulting
in disability or death arising out of and in the course of employment" and
"work-related illness" as "any sickness resulting to disability
or death as a result of an occupational disease listed under Section 32-A of
the contract”. Being included in the list is not enough, since all
of the following conditions must be satisfied: (a) the seafarer’s
work must involve the risks described; (b) the disease was
contracted as a result of the seafarer's exposure to the described risks; (c).
the disease was contracted within a period of exposure and under such other
factors necessary to contract it; and (d) there was no notorious
negligence on the part of the seafarer. These same definitions were reiterated
in the 2010 POEA SEC.
Two
elements must concur for an injury or illness to be compensable. First, that
the injury or illness must be work-related; and second, that the work-related
injury or illness must have existed during the term of the seafarer's employment
contract. The first requirement appeared in the 2000 and 2010 POEA SEC
but is absent in the 1996 version.
Through such restrictive provisions of the POEA
SEC, claims for disability compensation became a legal battleground,
especially in instances when seafarers do not receive full compensation that are legally entitled
to have. Such emergence of cases is attributable to the fact that the
seafarer’s employer does not hesitate to harness its immense resources to
limit its liability.
Nevertheless
, in instances when the heirs are
denied of the death benefits which led to the filing of cases. Courts are
called upon to be vigilant in their time-honored duty to protect labor,
especially in cases of disability or ailment. When applied to Filipino
seafarer, the perilous nature of their work is considered in determining the
proper benefits to be awarded. These benefits, at the very least, should approximate
the risks they brave on board the vessel every single day.
Part
of the annual celebration of the National Seafarers Day (NSD) is the
" ECUMENICAL MEMORIAL RITE FOR THE DECEASED SEAFARERS".
Prayers are offered and flowers are thrown to the open seas
as families and friends pay homage to them. The organizers said
"The Flowers are the expression of the fragrance and beauty of love
given and received. May this wreathe thrown into the sea carry to all the
deceased seafarers the message of our love and gratitude as we know
that by the power of God there is no distance of time or oceans but a mutual
waiting for our eternal reunion in peace. Dear departed seafarers, you
have completed your final watch, now rest in peace."
