Magna Carta of Seafarers bill to reach Senate plenary in January



A Senate panel is pushing for the passage of a bill that aims to institute mechanisms to protect the rights of the country's seafarers and to ensure their compulsary benefits.
The proposed Magna Carta of Seafarers Act also aims to enforce standards set by international laws.
"Napapanahon po na ipasa ang panukalang batas na ito upang kilalanin ang kontribusyon ng ating dakilang Filipino seafarers sa buong mundo," said Senator Joel Villanueva, co-author of the Magna Carta of Seafarers bill.
Villanueva chairs the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, which discussed the bill in a hearing on Wednesday.
The Magna Carta of Seafarers bill aims to fill in the gaps in legislation, particularly the Overseas Filipinos and Migrant Workers' Act of 1996 (RA 8042), which Villanueva said neither completely address concerns of the Filipino seafarers nor abide by the existing standards set by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
In a data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, it showed that sea-based Filipino workers remitted more than $1.9 billion from January to April 2015, a 5.6 percent increase from $1.8 billion during the same period in 2014.
Villanueva acknowledged the importance of passing the said proposal as the Philippines is considered as the manning capital of the world. In fact, 30 percent out of more than 1.2 million mariners in the world are Filipinos.
Moreover, there are 100 maritime academies in the Philippines, which produce some 40,000 seafarers each year, according to a 2011 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) report.
"Nais natin siguruhin na mabibigyang proteksiyon ang ating seafarers before, during and after their employment," Villanueva said. "Hindi po natatapos sa pagsampa nila sa barko ang ating pag-alalay sa ating mga mandaragat."
The Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers bill is set to be brought in the plenary during the Senate's resumption of session in January 2018 for further deliberations. —KBK, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday
Read more

Africa roads are world’s deadliest despite few cars ---- AFP

ADDIS ABABA: Africa has the fewest roads and cars of any region, and yet the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, caused by the usual suspects — unsafe habits, speeding and drinking — but also poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars. As everywhere, speed, alcohol and not wearing a seat belt or helmet are among the main causes of death and injury, say experts. But in Africa, where there are 620 traffic deaths every day, these problems are compounded by bad roads, outdated vehicles, minimal prosecutions and a shortage of emergency services. A recent World Health Organization report found that Africa surpassed the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia — which recorded the most road deaths — with a record ratio of 19.5 people killed per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. Home to only around four percent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 percent of road deaths last year. “What is worrying is the upward trend in Africa,” said Jean Todt, a former head of the Internati
Read more

Russia captures town after 2 years of Ukrainian resistance --- Reuters

Russian forces now control 98.5% of Luhansk, 60% of Donetsk MOSCOW: Russian troops on Wednesday took charge of the eastern Ukrainian town of Vuhledar, a bastion that had resisted intense attacks since Russia launched its full-scale assault in 2022. The advance of Moscow's forces, which control just under a fifth of Ukraine, has underlined Russia's vast superiority in men and materiel as Ukraine pleads for more weapons from the Western allies that have been supporting it. Ukraine's eastern military command said it had ordered a pullback from the hilltop coal mining town to avoid encirclement by Russian troops and "preserve personnel and military equipment". The Russian defense ministry did not mention Vuhledar in its daily battlefield report. Russian Telegram channels, however, published video of troops waving the Russian tricolor flag over shattered buildings. The town, which had a population of over 14,000 before the war, has been devastated, with Soviet-era
Read more