 MEAN
INDICATED PRESSURE
ENGR. NELSON P. RAMIREZ
The time bomb
BRINGING legal matters to court when one is
aggrieved and offended is one of our constitutional rights. But
somehow, we have to consider also the rights of others. Freedom can
only be enjoyed if we do not go beyond our limitations.
***
In the last five years of providing legal assistance to seafarers
there were times that I encounter baseless and useless complaints because
some complainants were the first ones to violate his duties, responsibilities
and obligations.
***
A case in point: One seaman sought my assistance because
he said he was illegally dismissed. During the course of my
interview, I found out that he was dismissed because he was drunk and was
caught sleeping while on duty. Nonetheless, he still insisted that
he had the right to file a case against the manning agency. In order to
appease him I advised him that he had to read his contract
first and check the penalty of the offense before I could provide
him a lawyer. He was so embarrassed after reading the contract that
he left the office without a word.
***
Another seaman asked my assistance because his company refused
to give him back his sea-man's book and passport. I told him
that his seaman's book and passport were his personal documents and nobody
has the right to hold it unless his employer needs it for the processing
of his contract of employment. He continued to tell me that the manning
agency even owed him some amount because he was not fully paid in
his last month salary. I started to doubt on the veracity of his complaint,
so I started to ask some questions. It took me almost an hour to
know the real reason why his documents were withheld. The truth behind
the matter was that he was actually dismissed because he ran after
the captain and threatened to kill him using a knife.
***
Recently one seaman filed a case against his agency because
he was illegally dismissed and one lawyer was just too eager to file
a case against the employer. The story behind his dismissal was running
amuck and endangering the life of the crew. Knowing perhaps that
his case would not prosper in court the seaman did not even bother to attend
the court hearings.
***
For sending the captain to the hospital after beating him
black and blue a third officer was dismissed. The picture of the
captain that was taken after he was dispatched from the hospital was shown
to me by one of the representatives of the manning agency.
His face was almost unrecog-nizable.When the seaman arrived in the
country he filed a case with NLRC for illegal dismissal.
***
If this will be the picture that we will be presenting in
the maritime community, then we are killing our profession. Fight for your
rights when you feel aggrieved but do it only if there is a valid reason.
***
A time bomb in the seafaring industry is ticking. Most of
the endorsement certificates issued are valid only up to year 2002. It
is a common knowledge among us that the normal processing of the endorsement
certificates takes three working days. Granting that there are more than
100,000 holders of this certificate and all of them will be renewing in
the same year, how can they be accommodated? We know for sure that
the maximum number of certificates that they will be able to process in
one day is 200, how can PRC cope with this future dilemma? How many
seafarers will lose their job opportunities because they cannot
renew their endorsement certificates on time? Granting that there
will be a minimum of 500 applicants per day, will there be
enough rooms to accommodate them? Whoever proposed and initiated
this validity of endorsement certificate up to year 2002 only, has
committed a serious crime against the Filipino seafarers.
***
Is it true that the Norweigian Maritime Directorate is sending
a huge amount to help us in the implementation of the IMO-STCW
Convention? If it is true, who received the money? Was
the money distributed only to the selected "deserving"
few? In that case, what have these "deserving" individuals done so far
to benefit this heavenly reward? Just asking.
***
What happened to the Ombudsman administrative case number
0-98-0049? Is it true that some MARINA officials were suspended ? If they
are already suspended why are they still receiving their salaries? Medyo
magulo yata ang statement. |
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OPINION
EDITORIAL:
Beware
the Ides of March
Of
sharks and dolphins
Capt. Telesforo Solda
CHRIST AT SEA:
Jubilee
on the high seas
Fr.Savino Bernardi, C.S.
THE LAW AND SEAFARERS:
Overseas
legal protection, still a pipedream?
Atty. Basilio Alo
"The Protector"
SOUNDING LEAD:
Preparation
for full compliance
Capt. Reynaldo M. Sabay
MEAN INDICATED PRESSURE:
The
time bomb
Engr. Nelson P. Ramirez
Want to play
basketball while in Rotterdam?
Filipino Seafarers who want
to play basketball on Sundays in Rotterdam, please contact Doming Malaloan
at Tel. No.: 010-463635 or International Seamen's Centre, Heijplaat, Rotterdam,
Tel. No.: 4290702 |
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