A seaman’s misfortune in Venice

By Herbert Vego

THIS is a true story of an overseas seaman who aspired to marry his girlfriend but figured in an accident that aborted that aspiration.  To protect his privacy, let us hide his first name.

Having just finished his nautical course, Totoy Alcabaza of Calamba City considered himself lucky to have qualified for employment on a nine-month contract with Indochina Ship Management as an able seaman on board M/T Baltimar.  He would receive a basic salary of US$1,018.00 per month plus overtime pay.

As a bachelor with a girlfriend, he was looking forward to a family life in the near future. This was motivation enough for him to work harder, knowing for a fact that a renewal of his contract would depend on his performance.

He was right. While the other Filipino seamen in his batch disembarked at the end of nine months, Alcabaza would be extended for three more months.

“Congratulations,” the ship captain greeted him. “You have a good future in this company.”

He phoned his family and girlfriend about two “good news,” namely the extension of his contract by three months, which could earn him enough income for pasalubong; and the opportunity to set foot on the ship’s next destination — Venice, Italy.

It was no day off for him when the ship anchored on the port of Venice. He had to work on that day while looking forward to touring the fabulous city the next day.

While working on the ship’s pontoons, however, he fell down on the lower gangplank and hurt himself very badly. He could see a bone on his shoulder jutting out of his bloodied flesh and skin. He was grimacing in pain while being rushed in an ambulance to the nearest Venice hospital.

The chief mate and the captain, who were with him in the ambulance, comforted him with the assurance that their shipping agent and principal would shoulder all his hospital expenses.

The hospital doctors diagnosed his condition as “frattura plurima scomposta,” an Italian term for fracture of the shoulder. He had to undergo surgery immediately.

The shipping agency’s office advised the ship officers to board Alcabaza on connecting plane flights to Manila so that he could be operated on at the Metropolitan Hospital.

The surgeon who did the surgery at the said hospital described the seaman’s condition as “complete oblique fracture, middle 3rd of left clavicle.” It necessitated an implant of steel inside his shoulder.

Though the operation was successful, Alcabaza had become unfit to work. He had no choice but to apply for total and permanent disability benefits. Unfortunately, the agency would not accommodate him on the pretext that his hospitalization and surgery had already cost too much.

It was then that he sought the advice of the Free Legal Assistance for Seafarers and Heirs (FLASH) in Manila.

The FLASH lawyers sought the arbitration of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), arguing that having already extended Alcabaza’s contract for three months at the time of the accident, the manning agency and the ship owner are liable to jointly pay the victim permanent disability benefits in the amount of US $60,000.00.

It only took two months for the NLRC arbiter to order respondents to pay Alcabaza that amount plus sickness allowance of US$2,232.00 and moral damages amounting to ₱300,000 in Philippine currency, based on Section 20 of the POEA Standard Employment Contract: “An employer shall be liable to the seafarer for illnesses/injuries suffered during the period of his employment contract.”

Clearly,  as revealed to this writer by a FLASH lawyer, “It was in the line of duty that the young seaman had lost his physical fitness.”

Incidentally, similarly situated overseas seafarers may still avail themselves of FLASH legal intervention.

FLASH beams a weekly radio program hosted by broadcaster Neri Camiña, “Tribuna sang Banwa,” every Sunday on Aksyon Radyo-Iloilo, 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Text messages to cellular phone number 0917-328-8742 are welcome.

-oOo-

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Wondering what the difference is between a scheduled and unscheduled power outage?

According to our source from MORE Power, scheduled outages are planned power service interruptions that are necessary to improve lines to enhance and increase efficiency in delivery of power and service to customers.

Unscheduled outages, on the other hand, are sudden power outages brought on by equipment or line failure, accidents, poor weather, or a shortage of electricity. When an unplanned outage occurs, all that is known is the affected areas and an estimated time of restoration.

Power outages can be frustrating and even scary.  Hence, the need to be updated with each occurrence.