Lawmaker wants life, P12-M fine for illegal recruiters of seamen

MANILA, Philippines - Rep. Emmeline Aglipay of the party-list group Democratic Independent Workers’ Association (DIWA) is proposing stiff penalties for illegal recruiters of seafarers.

She has filed Bill 4714, which seeks to declare illegal recruitment of seamen as “economic sabotage” punishable with imprisonment of 12 years to life and a P12 million fine. She said her proposal will complement the reactivation of the Presidential Task Force Against Illegal Recruitment under Executive Order 41 recently issued by President Aquino.

The bill mandates the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration to investigate and take appropriate action on any complaint concerning the recruitment and placement activities of manning agencies, and for local government units to help the POEA.

It also mandates the POEA and Philippine diplomatic posts to provide seafarers with guidelines to protect them while in foreign ports.

“The bill will bolster government efforts to stop unscrupulous recruiters from victimizing Filipinos seeking jobs overseas,” she said.

She said it is high time that Filipino seafarers be protected since they are one of the largest sectors remitting dollars and other foreign currencies to their families. Citing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data, Aglipay said seafarers remit slightly more than $3 billion every year.

She estimated that there are more than 700,000 Filipino seamen. Of this number, 400,000 are deployed on ships of Philippine registry, while 330,424 are working with foreign companies.