Filipino Seafarers: In High Water

Everyday, a typical scene along busy T.M. Kalaw St., Manila is a huge throng of job seekers – Filipino seafarers many of them turning up here almost daily for six years. Some are forced to take odd jobs as port stevedores or sweepers while their hopes of boarding an international vessel become dim. But they yearn for the day when they’ll be hired again and set off to the far seas through Manila Bay - which is just a stone’s throw away.  

By Alexander Martin Remollino
Bulatlat.com  

Ernesto Putong (he wouldn’t say his exact age, only that he is more than 50) hails from Antique. He is one of thousands of seafarers who frequently line up under the heat of the sun or the scourge of the rain on Rizal Park (formerly Luneta), along T.M. Kalaw St. in Manila, hoping to land jobs as crewmen for international sea vessels.

Mang Ernesto last boarded an international vessel in 2001.

Since then, he has been falling in line every now and then (not everyday, as many other seamen do) on T.M. Kalaw St. “The times I’m out of work are longer than the times I’m on board,” he says. According to him, seafarers’ contracts last only about eight to ten months, and few last a full year.

During the “dry spells” he is forced to rely on financial support from relatives, he says. At one time he thought of applying for work with an inter-island vessel. “But I didn’t take the job because the pay is low,” he says. “They pay P30,000 a month—to captains! Ordinary seamen get only about P6,500 a month.”

According to Mang Ernesto, this is very far from what he earned as an ordinary seaman on international vessels—about P50,000 a month.

Mang Ernesto also reveals that seamen are now required to take skills training programs, with each session costing anywhere from P3,000-P5,000 per session. Aside from that they are forced to apply for U.S. visas on their own, unlike before when it was the agencies that had these processed for the seafarer-applicants.

But there appears to be a reason why Mang Ernesto has not boarded a vessel again for the overseas. According to him, agencies usually accept only seamen not older than 50. “Before there was no age limit,” he explains, “but agencies have been imposing age limits since 2001.

“I don’t understand why our agencies have to impose age limits. German and British agencies hire seamen as old as 60, and Filipino seamen are usually stronger than they—being used to harder work,” he says.

Very typical

Mang Ernesto’s case is typical of the experience of Filipino seafarers, says Pastor Marie Tess Cruz of the Central United Methodist Church (CUMC), also located on T.M. Kalaw St., who directs livelihood programs for “inactive” seamen or those unemployed. The program specifically serves seamen who are beyond the usual age limits imposed by hiring agencies.

Explains Pastor Cruz: “There really is no age limit for seamen, but since there is a surplus of seamen every year, the agencies are able to accept younger seamen, who are willing to accept lower pay because they are not yet that experienced, compared to older seamen who already have a standard salary.”

However, according to Pastor Cruz, younger seamen likewise experience difficulties in finding jobs.

She reveals that out of the thousands of graduates churned out by the country’s maritime schools every year, only about 40 percent get employed.

The rest, Pastor Horacio Sison, administering pastor of the CUMC says, are reduced to lining up every day along T.M. Kalaw St. “Some have been falling in line almost everyday for as long as six years,” he says - a claim corroborated by Pastor Cruz who gets to interact with seamen more regularly.

During periods of unemployment, according to Pastor Cruz, the seamen are forced to rely on relatives—just like Mang Ernesto. “For some seamen who are already ashamed of taking help from their relatives, they are forced to fend on their own and live at Rizal Park.”

Others are forced to take odd jobs just to survive, according to Pastor Cruz. “We have seamen working as janitors,” she says.

With regards the skills trainings that seamen are forced to undergo despite being graduates of maritime schools, Pastor Cruz reveals that some of the country’s maritime schools are owned by agencies. “It’s a money-making cycle,” she says.

At sea

Filipino seafarers go through such difficulties in their search for jobs but when they do get hired, they have to put up with other hardships.

In a recent statement, Migrante International cited data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) indicating that from September 2002 to September 2003, 420 Filipino seafarers were killed in sea tragedies. Fr. John J. Walsh, chaplain of the Port of Davao, cites the same data in an article in PhilippineTIME News and People Magazine.

Also, based on data from the United Filipino Seafarers, the Philippines is the country with the most number of lives lost, among Asian countries, from 1986 to 2000.

Based on data from a recent report by Henry Omaga Diaz for ABS-CBN’s The Correspondents, Filipinos comprise 27 percent of the world’s seafaring force. Bulatlat.com research reveals that the Philippines is the world’s largest exporter of seamen.

Migrante International secretary-general Maita Santiago recently said in a statement: “...when a ship sinks or an accident occurs on board, it's likely a Filipino is among the fatalities.”

The plight of Filipino seafarers has been once more put to the spotlight with the recent M/V Rocknes tragedy. The pipe vessel, which had 24 Filipino crewmembers, capsized last Jan. 19 near the southern part of Bergen, Norway. The M/V Rocknes tragedy claimed the lives of 16 Filipino seafarers.

Most sea tragedies take place on flags of convenience (FoCs), according to Chat Dimaano, an organizer of the Migrante International-affiliated Filipino Seafarers Movement (FSM). According to Dimaano, “FoCs are ships registered in countries other than their countries of ownership, for example an American-owned ship registered in the Philippines, where manning agencies and ship owners can get away with low taxes and wages.”

Based on various news reports, FoCs are usually in sub-standard condition, and their crew is extremely underpaid.

Watchlisting/blacklisting

Aside from inhuman working conditions at sea, Filipino seafarers also have to put up with suppression of workers’ rights. This is done through the practices of watchlisting and blacklisting, according to Dimaano.

“Seafarers are put on the watchlist of the POEA or the blacklists of manning agencies and ship owners when they protest against unjust working conditions on board,” Dimaano explains. “These are practices that brand seafarers with traces of militancy as ‘troublemakers’ and prevent them from being rehired.”

Dimaano cited the case of Carlito Serafin, who was placed on the POEA watchlist in 1987 after protesting unsafe working conditions on the OBO Alberta Tanker. The ship’s crew were not provided with safety gear and, worse, were made to do work beyond what their contracts provided for. Serafin protested against these. He was placed on the watchlist by the POEA and since 1987 has not been able to get a job on an international vessel. As of last year, Serafin was working as a port stevedore.

“Even injured seamen who file claims for damages are watchlisted or blacklisted,” Dimaano reveals.

Long as ever

Despite all of these, the lines along T.M. Kalaw St. are as long as ever. According to Mang Ernesto, at any given day there could be more than 2,000 seamen in line.

“Usually the lines are longest on Mondays and Tuesdays,” Mang Ernesto reveals. “On those days the lines usually reach all the way to adjacent Maria Orosa St.”

Ever hopeful, Mang Ernesto will continue to be a more-or-less regular fixture on T.M. Kalaw St. “Although I’m past the usual age limit, I’ll continue trying to get a job,” he says. “One of these days I might just be able to board an international vessel again.” Bulatlat.com

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