THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) made a strong appeal to lawmakers to include Filipino crew working on overseas fishing vessels to be included in the proposed Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers.

DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac made the pitch in favor of Filipino fishers, who inarguably are the most oppressed and exploited among overseas Filipino sea-based workers, during the recent public hearing on the bill conducted by the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs.

Even as he expressed full support for the enactment of the proposed Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers, Cacdac underscored the need to extend protection to Filipino workers deployed onboard overseas fishing ships by including them in the coverage of the bill.

“May mga specific po kaming panukala para mapalakas pa po natin ang bill. Unang-una ‘yung mga fishers; alam po namin na karamihan sa pang-aabuso sa Filipino seafarers ay sa mga naglalayag na mga mangingisda (We have specific proposals for fishers who are often abused),” Cacdac informed the House committee chaired by Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo.

Unlike the traditional seafarers, the crew of international fishing vessels are often subjected to underpayment of wages, the substitution of contracts and long working hours with practically no medical benefits. Many of them are undocumented.

“Kaya ang kahilingan po namin ay masiguro lang na kasama ang Filipino fishers sa definition ng Filipino seafarers sa bill (that why we are requesting that Filipino fishers be also covered by the bill),” Cacdac said.

The proposed magna carta, if enacted, will serve as the enabling law to enforce the Maritime Labor Convention 2006, otherwise known as the “Bill of Rights” of seafarers. The MLC 2006 sets minimum labor standards for seafarers onboard commercial ships.

“Para sila (fishers) po ay hindi maging biktima ng tinatawag na human trafficking, sila’y hindi mabiktima ng underpayment of wages and other forms of abuse ng kanilang shipowners,” Cacdac continued.

The committee chairman, Salo, welcomed the proposal to improve the several House versions of the bill which, in the last 18th Congress, had been approved on third reading by the House of Representatives.

Passing the DMW proposal to include fishers in the bill, however, is easier said than done. The proposal may likely encounter some problems since the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 explicitly provides that it only covers seafarers onboard specific commercial ships.

It says: “The Convention applies to all those ships, whether publicly or privately owned, that are ordinarily engaged in commercial activities, except ships engaged in fishing or similar pursuits, ships of traditional build such as dhows and junks, and warships or naval auxiliaries.”

Moreover, another issue that needs to be clarified, the proposed magna carta, if enacted, can only be applied or enforced on Philippineflagged ships or ships registered in the country, but most if not all of the oceangoing fishing vessels are flying foreign flags.

Nonetheless, DMW officials volunteered to help the committee in addressing some challenges in the bill through the technical working group. When he was still with Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Cacdac was one of the few Filipino Labor officials directly involved in the crafting of a landmark convention that seeks to protect seafarers worldwide.