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BEN
Abaniz, 38, an experienced deck supervisor, has been
chasing for that stroke of luck on T.M. Kalaw after his
contract ended with a Norwegian oil tanker three months
ago.
A
resident of Southern Leyte—where his wife and a brood of
five live—Abaniz pays for board and lodging in Manila
while he waits for work.
He made
$1,400 a month on his last job, but Abaniz says he can’t
afford to be picky should a ship owner offer him lower
compensation. “I have a family to support,” he says.
Second-mate officer Roel Camiller, 44, is out of work
for almost two months now and is optimistic of finding
employment. A Bicolano and a father of three, Camiller
is quite close to grabbing a job that pays $2,200 a
month.
The
plight of these merchant marines is being played out in
a segment of Rizal Park in Manila, also known as Luneta,
where dozens of unemployed seafarers and shipping-firm
representatives meet.
The
recently opened Luneta Seafarers’ Welfare Center (LSWC)
provides a measure of changes in the global arena. The
Philippines supplies 28 percent of the world’s
seafarers.
For over
three decades, a part of Ma. Orosa Street up to the
National Library building used to serve as a stage for
enforcers, manning agencies and seafarers.
Now, the
merchant marines, or seamen, have their own refuge.
Behind this idea is Capt. Gregorio Oca, president of the
Associated Marine Officers’ and Seamen’s Union of the
Philippines, who says the needs of mariners “should be
given proper and formal attention.”
When the
center was formally opened in April, there has been a
marked increase in the number of recruitment agencies
setting up shop around the 2,516-square-meter lot the
foundation rents from the Department of Tourism.
So far,
there are roughly 50 booths of manning agencies,
insurance companies, remittance firms, banking
institutions and other organizations that provide for
the needs of seafarers.
About
2,000 to 5,000 seamen find that “lucky break” at the
center that also maintains a 58-bed dormitory and a
cafeteria.
An
overnight stay in the dorm costs P80, while food prices
are pegged at P25.
No
actual recruitment takes place at the center, says
lawyer Beulah Coeli Fiel, acting managing director of
the LSWC.
Fiel
says the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
has allowed the distribution of manning information but
not actual recruitment—which should be done in the place
of business of the agencies.
The
foundation aims to make the LSWC a “one-stop center”
where mariners may ask about benefits and services,
among others.
Today,
vessels are more specialized and automated and the
needed skills combination has shifted, says the Baltic
and International Maritime Council.
The
council cites that demand for skilled deck officers and
engineers continues to rise, and skilled ratings keep on
dipping. There is a shortage of 10,000 qualified
officers and a surplus of 135,000 ratings worldwide, the
council adds.
The
major threat to Filipino ratings emerges from
competition posed by Asian neighbors such as
China,
India, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Oca says
the monthly benchmark wage of Filipino ratings is
$1,400. He, however, admits that some non-Filipino
seamen are “satisfied” with $500 to $700 a month.
Apart
from that, ship owners are increasingly imposing age
restrictions for certain classifications of work.
For
instance, the 53-year-old Rogelio Baluran, who last
boarded an international vessel in 2003. He says his age
seems to be the reason why he has not boarded a vessel
again for overseas.
“Before,
there was no age limit,” he claims. Recruitment agencies
have been imposing age limits since 2001.
Baluran
explains that “I don’t get the point why our agencies
have to apply age limits. German and British agencies,
for example, recruit seamen as old as 65.”
“Ship
owners can afford to be choosy,” asserts Oca. “They want
tough young men who have lower risks of becoming
sick—which costs money.”
Baluran,
whose three sons are all in college, says the times he’s
out of work are longer than the times he’s onboard.
Seafarers’ contracts usually last eight to ten months. A
few last a full year.
There
was a time Baluran thought of applying for an
interisland vessel, he says. But he decided against it
because the pay is low.
“They
pay captains P30,000 a month. Typical seamen take home
only P6,500 a month—totally insufficient for my family,”
he says, clarifying that this is far from what he earned
as an ordinary seaman on international vessels at
P50,000 a month.
Filipino
seamen are valuable sources of revenue for the country.
Central bank figures show they sent home $2.2 billion in
total remittances last year. |
