Need for Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers
ASK why there is a need for a Magna Carta for Filipino seafarers, and you will get the instantaneous response: to protect the country’s seafarers. There is no doubt that is one compelling reason why legislators are bent on pushing for the enactment of the Magna Carta. As a country that supplies a considerable number of crew to the world’s shipping industry, the Philippines must protect its nationals who are employed on board ships all over the globe.
On top of the noble objective, there is one logical reason why the Philippines must pass a Magna Carta law: fulfilling the commitment to transpose into national legislation the provisions of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) the country signed and agreed to implement. But probably not part of the intention as the question of jurisdiction between the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) is brought to the fore.
ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations conventions that deals with the protection of workers and the promotion of decent work. ILO conventions apply to the workers of signatory countries, which means that the standards and requirements provided in such conventions apply to the nationals of Member States. This is true in the case of the MLC 2006, which applies to Filipino seafarers who are entitled to the rights stipulated therein whenever they are engaged to work on Philippine-flagged ships considered part of the Philippines’ territory. On the other hand, if there are foreign seafarers on board Philippine-flagged ships, the Philippine legislation enacted to implement MLC 2006 shall apply to them, i.e., they are entitled to the rights therein stipulated in the convention.
From the perspective of foreignflagged ships, many of which employ Filipino seafarers, they, too, ratified the MLC 2006 as an attestation that the crew they hire are given the rights under the convention.
It is them who will ensure that seafarers, whatever their nationality may be on their ships, enjoy the rights under the MLC 2006, e.g., that accommodation and recreational facilities, hours of work, etc., comply with the technical requirements of the convention.
The country of nationality of the seafarer having ratified the convention is obligated to adopt, among others, recruitment and placement processes that comply with MLC 2006. This is just one of the reasons why foreign shipowners require that labor-supplying countries ratify and implement the convention. Ships
on international voyages are subject to port state inspection, where authorities of ports of call check the compliance of the ship and its crew with international conventions like the MLC 2006. Foreign-flagged ships’ MLC certificate is the subject of inspection, not that of the seafarer’s country of nationality.
Therefore, the primary reason the Philippines must enact the Magna Carta, aside from ensuring seafarers enjoy the rights under the MLC 2006, is to sustain the continued employment of Filipino seafarers onboard international ships.
Compared to MLC2006, the International Standards on the Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) sets the minimum requirements of training and certification for seafarers to be permitted to work on board ships operating in international waters.
There are clear and distinct differences between MLC 2006 and the STCW Convention, as shown in the table.