Changing of the guards in seafarer’s cause

 With two seats as party-list representatives ,  the  major challenge of  MARINO   is to confront the questions raised on the qualification  of its first three   nominees who are not seafarers.

The results of the recent  party-list election  saw  the changing of the guards for the Filipino seafaring industry  as  Marino  replaced  incumbent Angkla.

In previous elections, several sea-based groups  attempted to gain slots in  Congress through the party-list system. 

Two parties run twice but failed to reach the required votes:  Maritime Party  in 2001 and 2004 while  Seaman’s Party run  in 2004 and 2007.

In 2010, three parties campaigned but also failed: Adhikaing Alay ng Marino sa Sambayanan (ALON)  with 49,893 votes , Ang Kapisanan ng mga Seaman (AKSI) with  26,805 votes, and United Filipino Seafarers (UFS)   with  6,121 votes.  

Angkla entered the political scene in 2013 competing with another group, Association of Marine Officer and Ratings (Amor Seaman). DIWA also carried the seafarers’ issues.  Angkla , won a seat ranking 26^th with  360,138 votes while  Amor  lost ranking  111^th for 40,849 votes. 

The 2016  election witnessed again  the race  between Angkla and Amor. As an incumbent, Angkla retained its seat but   dropped to 32^nd  place with 337, 245  votes which is 22,893 votes lower than that in 2013.  Marino made a debut  ranking 79^th place with 102,430 votes.  Amor ranked    87^th place with 68,226 votes.  

During this year’s midterm election, Angkla’s popularity continued to slide  down after occupying  the  53^rd slot  with  179,531 votes.  This is lower by 157,714 votes in 2016. As a consequence,  Angkla  came short of almost 12,000 votes to retain its  seat in Congress for a third term.

The problem besetting the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) for seafarers affected Angkla’s candidacy. Seafarers complained that the process for obtaining and renewing their license became more difficult when the functions of Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) were transferred to the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) by virtue of Angkla’s R.A. 10635.  MARINA was designated as the Single Maritime Administration to implement the  STCW.

Angkla’s decline could likewise  be attributed to the impression that it   prioritize   business matters rather than the basic seafarers’ issues. As Angkla was born in the boardroom with corporate genes, it    is heavily supported by the groups of manning agencies as well as shipowners.

It echoed the manning agencies in depicting  lawyers assisting seafarers for their legal claims as ambulance chasers when it authored  R. A.  No. 10706 (Seafarers Protection Act).

It even filed H.B. No. 5430 on February 2015  aimed to delay the execution of  NLRC/NCMB award  for cases involving monetary claims.

The  negative perception on  Angkla led to the shift of  seafarers’ support to Marino for this year’s election.

Marino  waves a Five-Point priority: cadet scholarships, family centers, trainings, free legal services and decentralization.

Despite  the fact that its  first  three  nominees are not seafarers, Marino placed seventh in ranking for its 677,378 votes.  It is  backed by big-time Davao-based businesses  and has  close ties with the Dutertes.  

Several groups have earlier  called for the repeal or amendment of the party-list law as political dynasties and businessmen have “hijacked” the system, supposed to be a platform for representation of marginalized sectors. The rosters of party-list representatives in previous Congresses had been hit for being recycled lists of people already in power and those with business interest.

Poll watchdog Kontra Daya  earlier raised red flags on party-list groups that have nominees that do not belong to the marginalized sectors they are supposed to represent.  Its    true intent   should be upheld  so that “only those that champion the marginalized and under-represented would emerge victorious”.

It is the group  as a whole that should be  evaluated  but  it cannot be denied that the identity of the nominees remains a significant reference for voters. Oftentimes, a party-list is voted based on political ads without actually knowing it or its platform.

Preliminary  reports noted  that seafarer deployment hit  337,502 in 2018 with remittance reaching US$6,139,512,000.

As the incoming congressmen are not seafarers, MARINO must prove that it is worthy of the Filipino  seafarers’   vote as their party-list representatives  that will genuinely protect their interest and not that of capital  to the prejudice of their labor rights. Otherwise, they will face the   2022 election with a bitter pill and suffer the same fate of Angkla.

Atty. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan  law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786

The party-list system and the seafarers’ votes

The votes of the  Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), both landbased and seabased, are now being courted by groups aiming political seats through the party-list representation.

Around 134 groups will vie for 59 seats allotted for the party list in the House of Representatives

Party-list representation utilize the tendency for proportional representation systems to favor single-issue parties, and applies that tendency to allow underrepresented sectors to represent themselves in the law-making process.

The party-lists system was introduced in the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act 7941 (the Party-List Law) to provide a balance for locality-based lawmakers, who are almost always elected on the basis of their popularity and the money that they release. The Constitution allots 20% Lower House membership from Partylist nominees, maximum at three nominees each, dependent on votes they gather nationwide. 

The Overseas Absentee Voting Act was passed in 2003, allowing Filipinos overseas to vote for who they want to be president, vice-president, senators, and party-list representatives.

POEA 2017  data shows that out of the 1,992,746 deployed  OFWs,   1,614,674 are landbased while 378,072 are seabased. In terms of remittances, the seabased sector sent home US$6,139,512.00 while the land based sector gave US$22,803,603,000.00.

Due to their absence during the election period, seafarers, who are registered overseas voters, may cast their ballots  60 days before the day of elections through two specialized modes:  personal voting or, in case of postal voting, in any post with international seaports as identified and recommended by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Seafarers may vote at any post, specifically Philippine embassies, consulates, foreign service establishments and other Philippine government agencies maintaining offices abroad, e.g., the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLO).

In personal voting, seafarers voting shall be conducted in the designated posts.

In postal voting, ballots for seafarers shall be distributed proportionately among posts with identified international seaports. These ballots shall be in the custody of the post for the entire voting period.  The seafarer shall personally claim the mailing packet at the post, accomplish the official ballot contained in a mailing packet; and submit the accomplished ballot which shall then be  disposed in accordance with the procedures on postal voting.

COMELEC records show that seafarers who have registered to be OAVs number 43,033 as of 2019. This is less than 2016’s 49,339. The most seafaring OAVs are from Europe (22,433), followed by North and Latin America (10,468), Asia Pacific (7,662), and the Middle East and Africa (2,470).

But the strength of the seafarers’ votes are essentially felt through  their families residing in the Philippines.

For the seafaring sector, two party-list groups are campaigning for this year’s mid-term election.

 MARINO Partylist was  formed in 2014 by seafarers and stakeholders from the maritime community mostly in Mindanao. They are pursuing advocacies that aims to make significant and meaningful changes and reforms in the maritime industry.

 On the other hand, ANGKLA was  founded in 2011 and won for 2 consecutive terms in 2013 and 2016.

A news report noted that ANGKLA prioritizes business matters; MARINO appeals for seafarers (but backed by big-time business).

Several groups have called for the repeal or the amendment of the party-list law as political dynasties have "hijacked" the system, supposed to be a platform for representation of marginalized sectors. The rosters of party-list representatives in previous Congresses had been hit for being recycled lists of people already in power.

A study noted that at least 49 party-list nominees in the upcoming midterm elections are part of a political dynasty or families that have more than one member elected to a public post. If their parties garner enough votes, the nominees could occupy 83 percent of the 59 party-list seats in the House of Representatives

(Atty. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the  Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan  law offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786)