Friday, February 6, 2009

Seafarers to Push Adoption of 2006 Maritime Labor Convention

MANILA, Philippines - A seafarers' group has vowed to intensify its push for the adoption of the 2006 Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) by the International Labor Office (ILO) to protect Filipino seafarers boarding international vessels.The International Seafarers' Action Center (ISAC) Philippines Foundation Inc. said adopting the convention will advance not only their rights but their welfare as well."There is a need for the unified action by the seafarers' themselves to push for the Philippines' ratification of the MLC," said ISAC President Edwin dela Cruz in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.Diane Lynn Respall, senior program assistant of the ILO Philippine Office, said the speed of the adoption and ratification of the MLC depends on how the social dialogues are going. She said it also depends on the political will of the government to speed up the ratification process.But lawyer Joseph Entero, ISAC vice-president and general secretary, voiced fears that vested interests of some government officials would block the ratification of the MLC.ISAC officials said that aside from organizing the seafarers, they would also tap the ILO and other civil society groups such as the Filipino Seafarers' Movement (FSM), the Catholic-led Apostleship of the Sea, and other institutions to help them disseminate information about, and to push for, the ratification of this important international instrument for seafarers. - GMANews.TV

3 comments:

MA. Rayie said...

As Philippines being the biggest supplier of seafarers, all stakeholders especially government agencies should work hand in hand to have this milestone adopted and be ratified in our congress. It is a big shame if they don't act and ratify a very important law that will craft and safeguard the rights of our seamen. However, if in case it will not be ratified, we shall only be content on the tacit acceptance procedure where if there is 60% of the countries world gross tonnage has ratified it, then it is as if we also have ratified it already. As even UNCLOS has not yet been ratified having the deadline this May 2009.

As record shows, 3 countries have already ratified the MLC, namely The Bahamas, Liberia and Marshall Island.

Joseph Alvin S. OLABRE said...

If we are to go in the process of tacit acceptance. Those vessels that are manned by Filipinos will be scrutinized strictly if calling on ports of those ratified countries. There was recent MLC 2006 seminar conducted by National Maritime Polytechnic at Heritage Hotel with most of the involved government agencies attended. Hope that those agencies will move for the ratification of MLC 2006 soonest.

m.g. bermejo said...

waaahhh!!! hndi ako nagbbsa ng blogs! nka post na pla ung topic n2! he..he.. kainis ka eugene, inunahan mo ako mag post!