House-passed Magna Carta of Seafarers divides manning industry

Various stakeholders in the manning sector were divided on the approval of the House Representatives of the reconciled version of the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, without the controversial escrow provision but requiring the filing of a cash bond by seafarers who claim disability claims against their shipowners or manning agencies.

Last week, House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs Chairperson Ron Salo of Kabayan Partylist revealed that the reconciled version of the Magna Carta for Seafarers, approved last 6 December 2023, contains several measures meant to address the practice of ambulance-chasing that foreign shipowners have complained about in the past years.

Measures include the institutionalization of a Department of Health -accredited physician in determining appropriate disability grading; inclusion of a specific short period of validation and payment of the seafarer's claim; establishment of the seafarer's "tambayan" with a full range of services to seafarers, including legal assistance; provision of free legal assistance by the Public Attorney's Office to seafarers having legal concerns; and clarifying the manner of execution that ensures full restitution of improper awards in cases of reversal or modification without the need for the seafarer to fork out money from his pocket.

However, sources from the manning industry said the reconciled version of the proposed law contains the implementation of a filing of a bond by the seafarer who won the case with the National Labor Relations Commission, or voluntary arbitrator under the National Conciliation and Mediation Board.

Reacting to this, Capt. Edgardo Flores, consultant of the Greece-based Eastern Mediterranean Manning Agency, said the cash bond is worse than escrow since it will prevent and discourage seafarers, most especially the rating (lowest rank of seafarers) from filing claims.

"No seafarer, rating or officer, will put cash bond, especially if it's a huge amount. Their rights were once again deprived of this provision. So, what is their protection on fair treatment of the law? They were the ones who filed a complaint, yet they were the ones obliged to file a cash bond? The company should be the one to file the bond. NO TO CASH BOND, that is anti-seafarers. What's best is that lawmakers should revisit and amend RA 10706 or the Anti-Ambulance Chasing Law." Flores posted on his official Meta (Facebook) account on Monday.

Ambulance chasing is the act of enticing workers, in this case, seafarers, to seek monetary damages against their employers as compensation for work-related injuries.

These seafarers are lured to seek large monetary settlements by lawyers who then ask for large percentages of the compensation they will receive.

Capt. Reynaldo Casareo of Cargo Safeway Inc. said that the move is a victory for anti-ambulance-chasing advocates, as opponents of the escrow provision have been allergic to the said provision.

"We hope President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. immediately signs the law if it has already passed the bicameral conference so that the days of ambulance chasers will be numbered," Casareo told the DAILY TRIBUNE.

He said shipowners have already shelled out $53 billion of unclaimed money from erring seafarers and ambulance chasers since 2011, based on statistics.

"The amount is the money that was not restituted to shipowners paid to seafarers that were victimized by ambulance chasers who are killing the entire shipping industry. There were many times that shipowners sought the help of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, ending up victorious on the false claims. This is also the reason why foreign shipowners shift to other races in choosing seafarers to man their ships," he added.

Asked for their comment, the Association of Licensed Manning Agency or ALMA said they will not comment at the moment, or will just wait for the signature of the President.