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”
