A group advocating for the rights of Filipino seafarers has criticized the Congress’ approval of the Magna Carta for Seafarer’s bill, which it said, has reinstated a provision that requires seamen to put up a bond for awards of disability benefits.

In a statement, the Seafarer’s Rights Philippines said it was angered and frustrated by the decision of the Senate and the House of Representatives to approve the bond requirement under Section 59 of the new version of the bill.

Section 59 of the new version of the bill disallows the immediate execution or payment to the complainant-seafarers of awards they received from final judgments of the National Labor Relation Commission (NLRC) and the Voluntary Arbitrator under the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB-DOLE). 

These are mostly awards for disability benefits the seafarers suffered in the line of duty, and which would render them permanently or temporarily incapacitated to continue working. 

Under the new version of the Magna Carta for Seafarer’s bill, the seafarer would have to put up a bond, in an amount equivalent to the award, to be able to receive his or her award.

“President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. did not sign the old version of the bill because it was violative of the equal protection rule under the Constitution. It makes seafarers as the only group of workers, local or OFWs, who would not receive their awards immediately,” Seafarer’s Rights Philippines said. 

“The awards won by seafarers would be tied up with appeals to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, which usually lasts for years or even a decade. It does not make sense for the President to sign this version, when nothing was really done to make the bond provision palatable,” it added.

The group said that should President Marcos sign the bill, it would erase the legacy of his father who signed the law protecting Filipino seafarers under the 1974 Labor Code.

The Labor Code was a landmark legislation that embodied the Constitutional mandate of affording protection to labor by regulating the relations between workers and employers. It ensured the rights of workers, local or overseas, to among others, security of tenure and just and humane conditions of work.

“The late President Marcos, Sr., as early as the 70’s already recognized the need to regulate the overseas employment of Filipino workers. This is why one of the policy objectives of the Labor Code, when it was enacted in 1974, is to “protect every citizen desiring to work locally or overseas by securing for him the best possible terms and conditions of employment,” the group said. 

In 1982, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) was created for the then overseas contract workers (OCWs), to be protected of their rights to fair and equitable employment practices. 

Through time, the POEA crafted standard employment contracts for OCWs, including Filipino seafarers. These standard employment contracts guaranteed disability benefits for our seafarers for sickness and injuries suffered while being deployed.

“Sadly, these protection and benefits for our seafarers were not just diminished, but would be taken away, by the new Magna Carta,” the Seafarer’s Rights Philippines said.

“This is not just a grave insult to our hardworking seafarers, but a move to erase the legacy granted to our workers by the late President Marcos, Sr.,” it added.