PSAP-PAROLA.ORG | Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme

National Forum on the 2006 ILO Consolidated Labour Convention:
Implementing the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers

Cebu 2006 National Conference
29 September 2006
Parklane Hotel
Cebu, Philippines

This pioneering Forum on the historic ILO Maritime Labour Convention of 2006 was convened by the Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme and the Center for Migrant Advocacy, Manila. Without doubt, it was a successful Forum, attended by over 100 participants who packed the grand hall of the Parklane hotel.

While the Forum was just one event among dozens of other events in the country celebrating National Seafarers’ Week (which is observed during the last week of September every year since 1997), the Cebu Forum was the only platform that dealt with, or made public, the new ILO Convention, which is known as the Magna Carta for Seafarers. Thus, the Forum auspiciously launched the new ILO Convention (“international bill of rights for seafarers”) in the Philippines, home to the biggest number of seafarers in the world today.

The outputs/outcomes of the conference:

1. As a result of the seminar, it was pledged that new legislation will soon be introduced in both chambers of the Philippine parliament (Senate and House of Representatives) to respond to the challenge of the new ILO convention. Thus, the “seafarers’ magna carta” bills that have been previously filed (in 2002 and 2005) in both legislative chambers will be revised/adjusted/updated by their respective authors in accordance with the contents of the new ILO convention. The author of the House bill, Congressman Roseller Barinaga announced during the Forum that he will also deliver a privilege speech before the Philippine Congress to share the ‘good news’ that he has gathered in the Forum.

2. The POEA (Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, under the government ministry of labour) announced that it will launch government consultation meetings beginning in November 2006 to review/discuss modifications to existing POEA Rules and Regulations as well as the government-prescribed “standard employment contract for Filipino seafarers”, in light of the new standards and requirements under the ILO convention.

3. An authoritative primer on the new ILO convention principally addressed to Filipino seafarers will be produced. It was suggested that the POEA, with the assistance of PSAP, should publish this primer as soon as possible so that many more seafarers will know about the ‘good news’ that is the new ILO Convention.

4. Seminar participants pledged that their respective institutions will pursue further information campaigns and awareness-raising initiatives on the new ILO Convention.

5. Civil society networking was greatly facilitated. For example, since the Forum was also the occasion to review prevailing issues and concerns faced by sea-based OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) and their families, a networking meeting among 20 participants, who were deeply interested in poverty alleviation and economic empowerment strategies for seafarers and their families, took place on September 30, in the form of a half-day seminar on the topic of OFW entrepreneurial experiences and challenges. This seminar, which was pre-planned as a side-event to the main Forum, was likewise funded by Cordaid and Misereor.

The Forum participants represented seafarers’ families organizations; church-based institutions (Apostleship of the Sea centres in Manila, Cebu, and Davao; Ecumenical Council for Migrant and Itinerant Workers of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines); seafarers’ self-organizations (Philippine Seafarers Union, Filipino International Seafarers Solidarity Organization, Marino [the organization of ‘blacklisted’ seafarers], and the International Transport Workers Federation); university and maritime schools (University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, maritime institutes); government agencies (the POEA, the Senate, the House of Congress, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Technical Education for Science and Development Agency, National Statistics Office, Professional Regulatory Commission); and several NGOs. The ILO office in Manila supported the event with the provision for CDs (containing the text of the ILO Convention and other relevant information) which were distributed to Forum participants as part of their conference kit. The majority of participants were seafarers’ wives representing their local support organizations of seafarers’ wives and families. There was only one representative from the shipping companies, although numerous persons from the private sector were invited. The event was covered in the local print, radio, and TV media. Also on September 29, the University of the Philippines’ Vargas Museum mounted an impressive Marino photo exhibit at the conference venue.

Unfortunately, the Forum was preceded by typhoon Milenyo, which ravaged southern Luzon and certain parts of the Visayas on September 28th and which prevented some 50 invitees in the neighboring islands in the Visayas from sailing to Cebu on the 29th. Several confirmed participants from Manila, including the representative of the Secretary of Labour, also cancelled their trip to Cebu due to the storm.

Messages and felicitations to the Forum were received from the following: Office of ILO Director General Juan Somavia in Geneva; the International Committee on Seafarers Welfare (London); and the International Shipping Federation / International Chamber of Shipping, and the International Transport Workers Federation. The Apostleship of the Sea in Poland forwarded to the Forum organizers a message from his holiness the Pope addressed to seafarers which the Pope delivered on September 24.

The financial support extended by CORDAID and MISERIOR towards the realization of the Forum is most gratefully acknowledged.

Documents and other resources in PDF Format

• Cebu conference documents
  1. Powerpoint presentation of Dr. Peter Payoyo on the ILO Convention (614 KB)
  2. Messages and felicitations
     [ILO Geneva (21 KB), ICSW Chairman (105 KB), ISF (27 KB), and Pope (9 KB)]
  3. Forum Programme (101 KB)
  4. Background Paper (77 KB)
• Other resources
  1. Complete text of the 2006 ILO Maritime Labour Convention (1,073 KB)
  2. Statement of DOLE Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas for the Philippine government during the ILO Conference to adopt the Convention (278 KB)
  3. Statement of Filipino Shipowners’ Association President Carlos Salinas during the ILO Conference to adopt the Convention (301 KB)
  4. The “Seafarers’ Magna Carta” bills previously filed in the Philippine House of Representatives (House Bill No. 1358 by Congressman Roseller Barinaga (134 KB)) and the Philippine Senate (Senate Bill 2066 by Senator Edgardo Angara (1,617 KB))

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