Seafarers bill tweaked to address industry woes
MANILA, Philippines — A new draft of the Magna Carta for Seafarers—a bill that has been delayed for further review—is now ready for signing after considering the issues previously raised by domestic ship owners when it comes to regulatory requirements, an official of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.
Trade Undersecretary for maritime sector Elmer Sarmiento, in an interview with media on Monday, said it was a relief that the signing of the bill had been delayed because it paved the way for a revision for the benefit of the stakeholders.
“What I heard is it is about to be signed already,” he said.
“Yung mga issue na na-raise, nasettle na, especially dito sa domestic (The issues raised were already settled, especially those coming from the domestic ship owners),” he said.
Further study
The Magna Carta—which seeks to protect the Filipino seafaring industry—was supposed to be signed into law on Feb. 26 but was postponed to allow further study.
READ: Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers still under review – PCO
This move was earlier welcomed by the Philippine Coastwise Shipping Association Inc. (PCSA), the country’s largest organization of ship owners and operators.
The shipping group said that adopting the Maritime Labor Convention of 2006 (MLC 2006), a salient feature of the bill, could be “injurious and will kill the domestic shipping industry” as it provides a blanket requirement for both local and international vessel operators.
Reconfiguring vessels
PSCA noted that MLC 2006 required specific criteria for crew accommodations, quarters and recreation facilities that small and medium ships could not comply with.
The organization said this means the companies must reconfigure their existing vessels, translating to additional spending out of their pockets.
Sea vessels from China and Japan, the group said, are not compliant with the MLC 2006 guidelines if they would only serve domestic local trade. Such compliance is only seen as important for international vessels traveling long distances for several months.
The Philippines is the top supplier of seafarers in the world, according to the 2021 review of maritime transport by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. It estimated that about 700,000 seafarers are deployed to domestic or foreign-flagged seagoing vessels.
