Pinoy Seafarer’s Rights

By Dennis Gorecho The first National Seafarers Day (NSD) was celebrated on August 18, 1996 with the theme “Marinong Filipino: Taas Noo!” at the WG&A Pier 4, North Harbor Manila. This year’s 30th NSD was held on September 28, 2025 with the theme “Marinong Filipino: Ating Karagatan. Ating Kabuhayan. Alagaan!” Former President Fidel V. Ramos …

By Dennis Gorecho The number of sea-based overseas absentee voters (OAVs) is continuously declining. Only 12,030 registered for the 2025 midterm election. The OAV was passed in 2003, allowing Filipinos overseas to vote for who they want to be president, vice president, senators, and party-list representatives. For the midterm elections, they will be voting for …

By Dennis Gorecho The execution bond requirement serves no legitimate purpose other than to delay the delivery of justice to seafarers who have already endured long and costly legal battles. Thus declared Federation of Free Workers’ (FFW) president and lawyer Sonny Matula in the petition filed before the Supreme Court on March 20, 2025, along …

By Dennis Gorecho Lack of a final medical assessment from the company-designated physician (CDP) negates the need to comply with the third doctor referral provision on seafarer’s disability claims. This was the ruling of the Supreme Court in Pacific Ocean Manning, Inc. vs. Nicolas Bobiles (GR 259982, October 28, 2024) in connection with a seafarer …

By Dennis Gorecho The employer is liable for three separate and distinct kinds of liabilities for any work-related illness or injury that the seafarer may have suffered during the term of the contract. The medically repatriated Filipino seafarer is entitled to medical treatment at cost to the employer, apart from sickness allowance and disability benefits. …

By Dennis Gorecho A seafarer’s heart ailment is considered compensable due to the strenuous nature of his work. This was the ruling of the Supreme Court in the recent case of Eugenio Lumagas vs. Maersk-Flipinas Crewing (G.R. No. 256154, October 16, 2024) when it granted disability benefits to a seafarer who was medically repatriated due …

By Dennis Gorecho   A seafarer with a heart illness is considered a “walking time bomb ready to explode towards the end of his employment days.” Thus declared the Supreme Court in the case of Leoncio vs. MST Marine Services Phils. (GR. No. 230357, December 6, 2017) involving a seafarer who was medically repatriated due …

By Dennis Gorecho The parameters for the third doctor consultation under the newly signed Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers will lessen the chance of claimants to receive favorable decisions in compensation cases. The provision on Determination of Disability Grading or Fitness to Work (Section 57) indicated that “the third doctor’s assessment shall strictly adhere to …

By Dennis Gorecho Some 352,479 kilograms of trash and debris, ranging from plastics to other waste materials, were collected in 250 coastal sites across the country during the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) on September 21, 2024. ICC is the world’s largest volunteer effort for ocean’s health and is being conducted every third Saturday of September of each year to raise …

By Dennis Gorecho The job of a seafarer is not exactly a walk in the park (Oriental Ship Mgt. vs. Bastol, G.R. No. 186289 June 29, 2010). A seafarer is mentally, physically and emotionally stressed sailing non-stop for weeks or months aside from exposure to fluctuating extreme temperatures as the ships cross ocean boundaries. Thirty-six (36) Filipino seafarers …