The Senate has ratified anew, for the third time, the bicameral conference committee report on the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers on Wednesday, July 31.

Only the minority senators—Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros—have voted against the ratification of the bicameral report.

Pimentel said he has "serious misgivings" about the procedure taken in reaching this report where the bicameral conference was conducted and terminated three times resulting in basically three different reports.

"This should not be a precedent," he said.

Pimentel has expressed his disagreement to the insertion of a new Section 59 which is the Execution of Judgment and Monetary Awards.

"The insertion seeks to treat foreign employers of Filipino seafarers more favorably than our law treats local employers of Filipino workers," he said.

Approval of this insertion, according to Pimentel, adverse decisions against foreign employers of Filipino seafarers will no longer be immediately executory, while those against local employers of Filipino workers are.

"If we approve this insertion, foreign employers of Filipino seafarers will no longer need to post a bond in order to perfect appeals of adverse decisions of the labor arbiter, while local employers of Filipino workers need to post a bond to perfect an appeal," he said.

"This may lead to frivolous dilatory appeals of adverse decisions by these foreign employers of seafarers," he added.

Senator Raffy Tulfo mentioned that this was included to balance the interest of both seafarers and employers to ensure the continued employability of seafarers by providing a more favorable and reasonable legal environment for employers and ship owners.

Meanwhile, Hontiveros expressed concern as the bicameral conference committee on the Magna Carta for Seafarers was reconvened to return the controversial provision that will mandate the payment of a bond before monetary benefits arising from disability are released.

“Nanalo na nga, binawi pa (It already won, but then it was recalled),” Hontiveros lamented.

“Nakakadismaya na pilit binalik ang bond sa Magna Carta of Seafarers. Poprotektahan sana ng batas na ito ang ating seafarers, pero parang lalo lang silang nilagay sa alanganin (It's disappointing that they keep returning the bond for the Magna Carta of Seafarares. This law should protect our seafarers, but it seems to put them more in a disadvantage),” she added.

She said that the battle to delete the bond provision was arduous, with the bicameral conference committee on the Magna Carta having been reconvened several times yet the latest reopening resulted in the restoration of the provision.

Senator Joel Villanueva said that while he supports the bicameral conference committee report, he manifested some reservations to it.

"This has been the third time, if I’m not mistaken because twice I was a member of the bicameral conference committee. Ito po ay pangatlo na (This is the third time). I have to say I was surprised na although 90 to 95 percent of the bill ay ok po ako. Nagulat lang po ako...nung pumasok itong bond. So ang tanong ko lang po, ito po ba ay galing sa Senado o sa Kamara ang idea na ito? (I was surprised...when the bond came in. So my question is, did this idea come from the Senate or the House? Because I don’t remember the Senate tackling this or approving this particular provision," he said.

Tulfo said that the conferees agreed to adopt the reconsidered bill on the matter; polishing and adjusted the language of the bill for clarity.