PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Valeriano Del Rosario, Daphne Ruby Grasparil, Patrick Sarmiento and Maria Francesca Bautista, VeraLaw
In relation to the Warrant of Arrest, the appli - cant must execute an affidavit, which shall be attached to the verified complaint, that the appli - cant undertakes to pay all port charges, fees and expenses for preservation and maintenance of the ship or cargo during its arrest until its release or sale. In addition to this undertaking, the applicant must also give a bond or security executed in favour of the Admiralty Court in the amount of 30% of the claim (but in no case less than PHP5 million). Notice and hearing must be afforded unto the owner, master, or person in actual possession and control of the property before any Warrant of Arrest may be issued. This notwithstanding, the plaintiff may request for an ex parte issuance of a Warrant of Arrest in cases of extreme urgency where it may suffer irreparable or gross incon - venience on account of the mobility of the ship. Once issued, the Warrant of Arrest shall be valid for a period of 12 months from the date of its issuance. 4.6 Arresting Bunkers and Freight Prior to the promulgation of the Admiralty Rules, charterer’s bunkers were successfully attached by way of a writ of preliminary attachment. This remedy is described below. However, with the promulgation of the Admiralty Rules, recourse to an attachment is no longer possible. Arresting bunkers: In theory this should be pos - sible, but the Admiralty Rules are relatively new and there are no precedents. Under the Admi - ralty Rules, Section 5 (j), Rule 1, Part I, “[a]ny agreement relating to the use of a ship, including bareboat charter, charter by demise, time char - ter, voyage charter or contract of affreightment,
and maritime contract of carriage, whether of goods or people, including bills of lading”, comes within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court. It should be possible formulate a claim for charterer’s bunkers under said section. Arresting freight: Under the Admiralty Rules, Section 5 (f), Rule 9, Part I, “[a]ny agreement relating to the use of a ship, including bareboat charter, charter by demise, time charter, voyage charter or contract of affreightment, and mari - time contract of carriage, whether of goods or people, including bills of lading”, comes within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty Court. A Warrant of Arrest for freight may be issued through of an action in personam and in rem. 4.7 Sister-Ship Arrest It is possible to arrest a sister ship provided that the sister ship is owned and registered under the same owner as the offending ship. Ships under the same management company or within the same group of companies may not be arrested. 4.8 Other Ways of Obtaining Attachment Orders Under Rule 57 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, it is possible to obtain an order of attachment against the property of the defendant as security for the satisfaction of any judgment. The pro - cedure and the requirements to obtain such an order are different from those for a Warrant of Arrest. An attachment is similar to the English- law Mareva injunction. 4.9 Releasing an Arrested Vessel The Admiralty Rules provide that the defendant may file a bail bond or security, including a cor - porate surety, from a surety company accredited by the Philippine Supreme Court, to lift a War - rant of Arrest. The bail bond or security must be
469 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook