December 9, 2024 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Due to an alleged conflict of interest, a group of seafarers has asked Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Assistant Secretary Jerome Pampolina to inhibit from drafting the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers.
The Concerned Seafarers of the Philippines (CSP) cited Pampolina’s past association with a law firm representing manning agencies and foreign principals.
“We believe that Pampolina’s involvement poses conflict of interest that must be addressed to ensure that the rights and welfare of Filipino seafarers are not compromised,” CSP chairman Jose Xavier Bayoneta said in a letter to DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac.
“We urge him to step back from this role and allow for a transparent IRR drafting process,” Bayoneta added.
According to CSP, the drafting of the IRR appears to favor local manning agencies and their foreign principals.
The group asked for another round of consultations to ensure that the concerns of seafarers are fully represented.
The CSP intends to furnish President Marcos, the Office of the Ombudsman and other relevant government agencies a copy of the letter.
Bayan Muna chairman and former representative Neri Colmenares also urged Marcos and the DMW to conduct more consultations with stakeholders on the IRR of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers.
Colmenares noted that various procedural infirmities resulted in continued disagreements between the seafarers and the Marcos administration.
“The DMW, represented by Assistant Secretary Pampolina, failed to steer the consultations to a successful and amicable conclusion,” he said.
Colmenares said the refusal of the DMW to conduct consultations would only “generate animosity and challenges against the Magna Carta from the beneficiaries themselves.”
He criticized a provision of the IRR that he said does not help seafarers but rather the manning agencies and ship owners, resulting in opposition by seafarers, maritime schools as well as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
Colmenares urged DOLE and other stakeholders not to give in to pressure and to maintain their opposition to the law and the IRR.
“We ask the DMW not to railroad the consultation and continue to pursue meetings as the termination of the consultation will practically negate the supposed intention of the Magna Carta,” Colmenares said.
He further asked the DMW “not to force the stakeholders to pursue judicial challenges against the law that was originally intended for the good of seafarers.”
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