Pinoy Marino Rights

IN the guise of protecting mariners, the inclusion of an escrow provision in the proposed Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers is unconstitutional and anti-labor.

The inclusion of said escrow provision will go beyond the benevolent objective of the Magna Carta at the expense of curtailing seafarers’ rights.

The employers and manning agencies again proposed the provision, which in essence aimed to amend the Labor Code that will have significant impact on the “immediately final and executory” nature of decisions issued by National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB).

They stressed that such move is necessary to ensure the restitution of monetary awards in case the appropriate appellate court annuls or partially or totally reverses the monetary judgment award. The proceeds shall remain in escrow until such time the finality of the decision issued by the appropriate appellate court is obtained.

The provision is a mere dilatory tactic in the execution of the seafarers’ monetary awards and violates the constitutional guarantee on equal protection.