By Bohol 3rd District Rep. Kristine Alexie Besas Tutor
Seafaring, under our laws, covers the naval architecture and marine engineering professions being regulated by the PRC (Professional Regulation Commission). As chairperson of the House Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation, I am also responsible for professional seafarers working locally and abroad.
The House of Representatives has repeatedly tried since 2004 to have the Magna Carta of Seafarers enacted into law. For eight of those 20 years and four consecutive Congresses from 2016 to 2023, the House passed on third reading and sent its approved bill to the Senate.
The Magna Carta of Seafarers is a complex piece of legislation with even more complex underlying bases. That is partly why it took so long. The other part is the resistance of some stakeholders to change.
Seafarers will soon have what is essentially a labor code for their sector, designed to give them end-to-end protection from the time they enter maritime school to when they retire from their profession.
Contrary to prevalent misconception, the Magna Carta of Seafarers covers those who work overseas and here in our country. But not covered are fishing vessels, ships of traditional built, government ships not engaged in commercial operations, and warships, naval auxiliaries, and Coast Guard vessels. It is therefore clear that the law covers domestic shipping and passenger vessels.
On my part, I will keep a close eye on the crafting of the IRR because the exception on ships of traditional built could be the loophole some substandard and non-compliant vessel operators could exploit. In my opinion, ships of traditional built should not include any motorized banca or boat whether for passenger or cargo. In my mind, the vessel is no longer traditional if an engine powers it. Basta sagwan lang ang gamit traditional yun (As long as a paddle is used, that’s traditional). Pero kapag motorized na, hindi na yun (But if it’s not motorized, it’s no longer) traditional.
This Magna Carta was written, in part, to make sure we have much fewer collisions, boat sinking, oil spills, and tragedies because those mishaps are the result of human error, substandard vessels, and non-compliance on the part of the owners, operators, and crew.
It has provisions on domestic seafarers, inspection and enforcement, shipboard training, maritime higher education and curriculum, and roles of the Ched (Commission on Higher Education) and Coast Guard.
These provisions and others address the recurring shortcomings of our country whenever our maritime system is audited using global standards. The IMO (International Maritime Organization) and Emsa (European Maritime Safety Agency) have been pressing for stricter laws and regulations and better enforcement. At least now, we have the legal framework. There must be follow-up execution according to what the law stipulates. Implementation, I believe, is the much greater challenge because, quite often, our country falls short on implementation, especially the enforcement part.