Solons, DMW to discuss increasing salaries of Filipino seafarers

Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo and Rep. Edvic Yap are set to meet with officials from the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) this week to discuss increasing the salaries of Filipino seamen to be on par with their counterparts from other countries.

Tulfo wants the DMW to ensure that Filipino seafarers and other professionals sign contracts with salaries comparable to those of other nationalities.

“For a long time, my office has been receiving these kinds of complaints, but our kababayans are helpless because we Filipinos are not choosy,” said Rep. Tulfo.

The solon encouraged the DMW to make sure that Filipino seafarers are not disadvantaged in terms of salaries and benefits.

Yap, on the other hand, also suggested that the DMW should talk to the manning, placement, and recruitment agencies regarding this matter.

“This is not only happening to our seafarers but also to land-based contract workers such as engineers, accountants, draftsmen and others. It seems Filipinos are receiving a smaller salary compared to other nationalities, particularly the Europeans and Americans,” said Rep. Yap.

“I think it is high time we do something about this because we do not complain when it comes to salaries especially when our kababayans are based abroad,” Tulfo added.

Filipino seafarers receiving a smaller salary compared to their counterparts recently became an issue after it was reported that a seafarer went to court in The Netherlands and demanded the same salary as the European seafarers.