Enabling law of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006

First of two parts

In his 3rd State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. lauded the United Nations for adopting UNHRC Resolution 56/18 on Promoting and Protecting the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Seafarers.

The resolution, initiated and filed by the Philippines, is an international affirmation of the principles and standards on the rights of seafarers established by the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC 2006).

Aside from the call for State parties, shipowners representatives and seafarers’ representatives to enhance the enforcement of the MLC 2006, the resolution urges shipping industry stakeholders to respect the right of seafarers to decide on whether to sail or continue sailing in high-risk areas and such decision should not negatively affect a seafarer’s employment competitiveness or future deployment.

The Philippines signed MLC 2006 in 2012, which carries the obligation to implement fully and effectively the said convention through national legislation/regulations. On Dec. 20, 2021, Republic Act (RA) 11641, or the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Act in Section 2 of the Declaration of Policies, avers the duty of the State to protect the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a term which includes seafarers.

A scrutiny of the DMW Act conveys the manifest purpose of carrying out the principles and standards of MLC 2006 as it applies to seafarers and all other international instruments as these may apply to land-based OFWs. The DMW Act cites generically the rights and entitlements of OFWs, giving cognizance to the different circumstances in which OFWs work.

The law gives the DMW the flexibility to adopt policies, strategies, rules and regulations that ensure the protection and promote the welfare of OFWs and uphold the enjoyment of their rights and entitlement as articulated in international agreements and national legislation and regulations.

The DMW assumed the functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), which has the primary mandate of protecting OFWs. RA 8042, or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, had as its primary objective the protection of OFWs. Said law was amended by RA 10022 as approved on March 8, 2010, for “further improving the standard of protection and promotion of the welfare of migrant workers, their families, and overseas Filipinos in distress.” Thereafter, on July 8, 2010, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Secretary of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) promulgated the Omnibus Rules and Regulations Implementing the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, as amended by RA 10022. These cited legislation and rules and regulations substantially carry out the prescriptions and requirements of MLC 2006.

The Philippines is, therefore, substantially compliant with its obligation of transposing into national legislation the provision of MLC 2006. Many stakeholders have called out policy-makers on the apparent overlap of the proposed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers with the existing national laws and regulations and have therefore requested Congress to review this legislation to identify the gaps in relation to MLC 2006.

This means an amendatory law to address the gaps should be the logical step. The Magna Carta began its legislative journey after the Philippine ratification of MLC 2006; in the meantime, the same legislative body considered and finally enacted RA 11641. How could it happen that the same subject matter of OFW rights be separately considered into two consolidated bills?

Except for the provisions relating to maritime education and training, all the remaining texts of the Magna Carta correlate with those in the existing legislation/rules and regulations, an indication that indeed, RA 8042 as amended by RA 10022, and the Omnibus Rules and Regulations implementing the law should be considered as the enabling law for MLC 2006.

It is submitted that OFWs face new challenges as a result of recent geopolitical events and conflicts which demand that the government look through a different lens when protecting Filipino workers; therefore, a review and possibly an amendment of the existing laws is in order, with a view to aligning these with MLC 2006. Meanwhile, DMW is given the mandate under RA 11641 to promulgate policies, rules and regulations to protect the rights and welfare of OFWs, including seafarers, even without the need for new legislation.

And what about the maritime education and training provisions of the proposed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers? Congress may need to conduct a review of Republic Act 10635, which is the primary law that covers the implementation of the International Convention on the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended.