PSAP-PAROLA.ORG | Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme

By Maragtas S.V. Amante

Although the Philippines provides more than one quarter of the world’s seafarers employed aboard internationally trading ships, and its position as the world’s leading supplier of ships’ crews seems assured, it has not been possible for crew managers, officers of international agencies, associations and other interested parties to find reliable information about Filipino seafarers and their circumstances in one publication. This report modestly aims to remedy this gap, by providing a profile of the Philippine seafarers in the global labour market.

Between October 2002 and January 2003, separate surveys were conducted, of seafarers (n=374) and students (n=658) enrolled in 11 maritime colleges, with the aim of generating a dependable profile of Filipino seafarers. The survey results were subsequently amplified by a search of available documentation and interviews with crewing managers, senior government and trade union officials. Websites and publications by government agencies, employers and unions, and seafarer organizations provided other data.

The entry of Filipino seafarers in the global labour market occurs in the context of the following stark realities of a third world country:

• Huge foreign debt of US$ 50 billion.
• Perennial trade deficits ($ 322 million in by November 2003).
• Widespread poverty (34 percent of population in 2000)
• Relatively low national income per person ($ 1,050 per capita in 2003)
• High unemployment ( 10.1 percent, October 2003)

Filipino seafarers have become a vital component of the country’s Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) economy. Remittances from all OFWs are a major source of US dollar earnings, contribute significantly to stabilising the balance of payments, prevent foreign exchange instability, and serve as a buffer against drastic devaluations of the peso which could lead to inflation. Politicians refer to OFWs, including seafarers, as the “new heroes” in acknowledgement of their economic role.

***Maragtas S.V. Amante was Mols Sorenson Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Seafarers International Research Centre, Cardiff University, March 2002- Feb 2004. Fellowship support for research fieldwork is gratefully acknowledged. Errors and opinions are the author’s sole responsibility. For feedback, write to www.psap-parola.org or maragtas2001@yahoo.com, maragtas@up.edu.ph.

Philippine Global Seafarers: A Profile in PDF format (38 KB)

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