The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) will seek additional funds from the Department of Budget and Management to cover its new mandate outlined in the recently signed Republic Act 12021, the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers.

“We will request additional funding from the DBM, for additional personnel and relevant resources for us to perform this mandate efficiently. Whatever mode, Marina needs funds,” Marina’s Planning and Policy Service director Luisito de Los Santos, told DAILY TRIBUNE in a Viber message.

Marina is set to oversee all maritime-related activities, ranging from training and education, to ensure the proper implementation of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers which is intended to protect all Filipino seafarers, including maritime students.

Under the Magna Carta signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 23 September, Marina is “mandated to oversee maritime education with the power to accredit, regulate and monitor education and training institutions offering maritime degree programs and technical courses.”

The appointment of Marina to implement maritime education and training aims to amplify and distinguish the joint responsibility of the government agency with the Commission on Higher Education’s current role in maritime education.

Resolving liability conflicts

In a separate interview on DAILY TRIBUNE’s “Usapang OFW,” Cristina Garcia, former president of the Association of Licensed Manning Agencies Maritime Group, said Marina’s appointment would help prevent liability conflicts between the two agencies.

“The government mandates Marina to implement and maintain our STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) compliance. And then for CHEd, it’s the curriculum,” she said.

“Now, what’s different in this Magna Carta is Marina was appointed as the responsible government agency for education and training of maritime students and seafarers training,” she said.

With the Magna Carta signed into law, Garcia said Marina has a “very clear responsibility” for the education, rights and welfare of Filipino maritime students and seafarers both domestically and internationally.

Seafarers’ disability claims

RA 12021 also establishes mechanisms, rules and procedures to ensure the fair, speedy, equitable and just disposition and execution of decisions granting seafarers’ salaries, wages, statutory benefits and death and disability claims.

If a seafarer wins his or her appeal, the losing party must immediately reimburse the seafarer’s bond.

A report by the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs (IG) showed at least $52.6 million in quantifiable damages, mainly from ambulance chasing, in September 2023. Ambulance chasers are lawyers who convince seamen clients to file cases for exorbitant amounts even for minor injuries.

The Magna Carta emphasizes the compliance of Marina and other maritime-related agencies in processing disability claims based on existing rules and regulations, such as the Department of Migrant Workers’ standard terms and conditions.

Garcia explained that under Section 57 of the seafarers law, an injured or ill Filipino seaman would be referred to a company-designated physician once he is in the country who will assess his condition to determine the specific disability grade.

Disability gradings are used in evaluating the impact of injuries or sickness on an individual’s overall well-being, which in turn would determine the appropriate benefit or compensation they deserve.

Another doctor, selected by the individual, can further investigate the disability grading. If this grading remains in dispute with the company-designated physician and the chosen doctor, a third doctor specializing in the specific injury or sickness will determine the final disability grading as part of the mandatory process.

The Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers aims to “harmonize policies” and improve coordination among maritime-related agencies other than Marina, CHEd and DMW to include the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Coast Guard and Department of Labor and Employment.