SEVERAL bills on the 'Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers' are under consideration in the Philippine Senate. The draft bills purport to implement the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC 2006), the international agreement which articulates the basic rights of seafarers. As a signatory to MLC 2006, the Philippines is committed to transposing the provisions of the said convention into national law to ensure that seafarers can enjoy the rights granted to them.

Scrutiny of MLC 2006 will show that it is primarily addressed to flag-States, i.e., countries under whose flag a ship operates. The Philippines in enacting a Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers aims to fulfill its commitment as party to the convention with the pledge that seafarers deployed on Philippine-flagged ships are given the basic rights therein stipulated. After years of deliberating the draft Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, it is expected it will finally become law.