PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Valeriano Del Rosario, Daphne Ruby Grasparil, Patrick Sarmiento and Maria Francesca Bautista, VeraLaw
In terms of seafarers’ remittance, the country earned USD6.545 billion in 2021 and USD6.715 billion in 2022, the latter figure comprising at least 22% of all USD remittances from Filipino overseas workers. In January to July 2023, sea - farers’ remittance reached USD3.809 billion. This industry has not been without challenges, one of which is the rising number of seafarers’ claims for disability benefits. Due to the Philip - pines’ labour laws’ bias favouring employees and laws on immediate execution of judgment awards, ambulance chasers have taken advan - tage by filing legally unsubstantiated cases, with most of them decided in favour of seafarers. Even if a lower court’s decision is reversed by the Supreme Court, restitution of the paid award is usually slim as seafarers no longer have the assets to satisfy the writ of execution. Because of this, ship-owners are considering hiring sea - farers of other nationalities for their vessels.
The Philippine government realises the repercus - sions of these questionable claims and recog - nises the vital contribution of the manning indus - try to the nation’s economy. Thus, steps have been taken to “level the playing field” between seafarers and the ship-owners. Currently, there is a pending legislation awaiting signature by Philippine Congress, giving ship-owners a fair chance of recovering paid judgments, should the Supreme Court decide that the award is errone - ous. MARINA also has a complaints process for cancellation of the seafarer’s identification and record book (SIRB) for those who received pay - ment for full disability benefits.
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