Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has signed into law a measure that protects the country’s seafarers from ambulance chasers.
Aquino on November 26 signed Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10706, entitled “An Act Protecting Seafarers Against Ambulance Chasing and Imposition of Excessive Fees, and Providing Penalties therefor,” or the Seafarers Protection Act.
“As some unscrupulous individuals have taken advantage of the plight of our seafarers who met an accident, illness or death in the course of their service by exploiting the compensation system, our seafarers have fallen prey to an unfair scheme where ambulance chasers charge exorbitant fees, with the promise of huge monetary award. Towards this end, such practice shall be declared unlawful,” the law said.
It makes unlawful “for any person to engage in ambulance chasing or the act of soliciting, personally or through an agent, from seafarers, or their heirs, the pursuit of any claim against [their] employers for the purpose of recovery of monetary claim or benefit, including legal interest, arising from accident, illness or death, in exchange of an amount or fee which shall be retained or deducted from the monetary claim or benefit granted to or awarded to the seafarers or their heirs.”
Fees paid to the person who appears for or represents the seafarer or his or her heirs in recovering monetary claim or benefit arising from accident, illness or death should not exceed 10% of the compensation or benefit awarded to the seafarer or his or her heirs, according to the law. This fee applies when the case is filed before the National Labor Relations Commission or any labor arbiter, the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) or its regional offices, or other quasi-judicial bodies handling labor disputes.
A person found violating Section 3, or the ambulance chasing provision, faces a fine of not less than P50,000 but not more than P100,000, or imprisonment of one year but not more than two years, or both. The same penalties will be imposed upon accomplices in violating Section 3.
The DOLE, Maritime Industry Authority, and POEA were tasked to create the implementing rules and regulations of R.A. 10706 within 90 days of approval of the law.
According to the POEA, the Philippines has been the world’s main supplier of seamen since 1987, making the country the manning capital of the world. According to DOLE, around 229,000 Filipino seamen are on board merchant shipping vessels around the world at any given time. The figure shows that Filipino seamen comprise more than 25% of the1.5 million mariners worldwide, the “single biggest nationality bloc” in the shipping industry.
Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
