Analyzing the POEA standard employment contract for seafarers A critical assessment of the application of this contract by the quasi-judicial and judicial bodies in Philippine

Overseas employment workers play an important role in Philippines economy. Nearly ten percent of GDP is contributed by overseas workers remittances. According to the POEA 2010-2014 statistic report, over 400,000 Filipino seafarers work on-board ocean-going vessels. Because of the relatively high standard of training and language skills of the Filipinos, they are the most hired workers in today s shipping industry in terms of number. Due to the lack of commonly accepted judicial standards in place, however, there exists many areas of conflict between the Filipino workers and their foreign employers. In spite of the government s attempts to improve the relations between the seafarers and their employers and, to bring equality and fairness into the contractual relation, more and more Filipino seafarers file petitions against shipowners seeking to obtain compensation and benefits. It is a necessity that issues regarding work-related injury, illness or even death on board vessels be addressed in the terms of the contract. While the mechanism of compensation and benefits are detailed in the negotiated contract agreed by parties. Disputes are often solved by petitions filed by the employees who try to interpret the terms differently from the custom usage and seek for a chance of unjust enrichment, rather than by the binding rules of the contract. Also NLRC/NCMB, court of appeal and even the Supreme Court sometime set the clear evidence aside and made decisions in favor of the labors in some cases. From P&I comment, To some shipowners the frustration is so immense that they consider changing crew nationalities away from Filipinos This study will look into the problems described above in the introduction both on the legal aspect and through a practical approach. In this context, the study has the following scope: (1) Examine the grounds to interpret POEA SEC terms. (2) Assess in which ways the judicial and quasi-judicial bodies in Philippines are interpreting POEA SE