Bayan Muna Questions Constitutionality of Seafarers’ Magna Carta

By Juliane Judilla

Bayan Muna Party-list filed a petition before the Supreme Court on May 6 questioning the constitutionality of the recently passed Magna Carta of Seafarers.

The petition was led by human rights lawyer and Bayan Muna 1st nominee Atty. Neri Colmenares, along with the International Seafarers Action Center.

The petition challenges provisions that allegedly lower compensation for injured seafarers and require them to post a bond before they can access awards granted by the National Labor Relations Commission.

The petition also questioned Section 59 of the law, which allows the Aksyon Fund—allocated to the Department of Migrant Workers for overseas Filipino workers—to be used to pay the seafarers’ bond.

Petitioners further argued that the passage of the law violated Article VI, Section 26(2) of the Constitution, which outlines the legislative process for enacting laws.

“The powers of the Bicam have been questioned—whether in its insertions in the 2024 Unprogrammed Appropriations, the 2025 GAA, or this Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers,” the petition stated.

“The seafarers ask the Court to disallow this practice as it practically allows the Bicam Committee to craft its own law, usurping the constitutional powers of Congress,” it added.

House Bill No. 7325, or the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, was approved by the House of Representatives in March 2023.

It included a provision stating that compensation awarded to seafarers would be placed in escrow and withheld if the employer appeals the case.

The Senate passed its version on third reading in September 2023, retaining the escrow clause despite opposition from seafarer groups.

The Bicameral Committee version finalized in December 2023 also retained the bond provision.

Bayan Muna argued that the escrow provision undermines the law’s intent to protect the welfare of seafarers and their families.

“This will hinder our seafarers and their families from claiming sickness and death benefits,” Colmenares said.

“If enacted with this provision, the Magna Carta for Seafarers will defeat its purpose of protecting Filipino workers at sea,” he added.

In May 2024, the Senate and House ratified the Bicameral Report on the Magna Carta of Seafarers.

Although the version ratified in May removed the execution bond, that version did not reach Malacañang for signature.

By September 2024, the bill was certified as urgent by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

However, the Bicameral Committee later produced a third version of the bill that reinstated the controversial escrow provision.