Written by Noel Sales Barcelona   

MANILA, Philippines—A seafarers’ group in Manila says that they will be in “close watch” in developments of the ratification of the Maritime Labor Convention of 2006, a consolidation of all existing maritime labor instruments in the past 80 years, as the Department of Labor and Employment expressed that it would likely to ratify the said convention.

Atty. Joseph Entero of the International Seafarers’ Action Center (ISAC) said that the MLC ratification needs no words, but concrete steps in order to be ratified and be adopted later on.

“ISAC had been campaigning for the ratification, and eventually, adoption of this important maritime labor instrument, but the [Philippine] government has been too slow in acting on the issue,” says Entero.

The lawyer said that during the presidency of Mrs. Gloria Arroyo, the MLC did not even mention in the former administration’s labor agenda.

For ISAC, the ratification of the MLC is a matter of life and death to more than 300,000 Filipino mariners sailing on the earth’s seven seas.

“A consolidation of all the existing maritime labor instruments for the past 80 years, the MLC would ensure that the ship-owners, the labor-exporting countries like the Philippines, and the flag-states would be held accountable if ever there is trouble in the ships due to the neglect or non-compliance to maritime labor and safety standards,” Entero explains.