Intoy Syokoy, Filipino seafarers, and piracy

SYNOPSIS Intoy (JM de Guzman) has had the hots for Doray (LJ Moreno)  since they were kids in Kalye Marino, Cavite City, formerly the American Naval Base in Sangley Point.  Both marginalized as the long-lasting effect of American abandonment of the said base, Intoy has become Kalye Marino’s best “tahong” caretaker-with-no-angst-about-poverty, while Doray a cheap prostitute-with-no-guilt, tending to her siblings’ needs.  Intoy strives to have his own cages of “tahong” so he can have Doray, not for just a night of quickie sex, but forever.  But what will he do to when she offers to drop by his hovel-on-stilts to quench his passion, but before it happens Nature has chosen to play a joke on his tahong cage?  Will it be goodbye to his tahong business or to his damsel-in-distress and ultimately to Kalye Marino?  From Eros S. Atalia’s 2001 Palanca Grand Prize-winning Short Story, Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino is a love tale minus the obligatory romantic sentiments.   

Kenneth Salva

As a maritime  lawyer representing the Filipino seafarers, I commend the producers for tackling the issue of piracy that continue to plague the seafaring industry. In this Cinemalaya entry, Kenneth Salva portrayed the role of one of Intoy's barkada who wanted to follow the footstep of his father who is a seafarer. His dream collapsed after receiving news that his father was killed during a piracy incident while on the high seas.  

 The recent piracy incidents are  reality checks  to the risk faced by seafarers , particularly Filipino seafarers.  The Philippines, which supplies a third of the world’s seafarers’ population, is among the most adversely affected and seriously alarmed by incidences of piracy in the Somali basin and the Gulf of Aden. The hijacking of dozens of vessels, ranging from massive oil tankers to chartered supply ships carrying UN food aid for Somalia, has become a highly lucrative industry with millions of dollars paid in ransom each year.  

Seafarers are on the frontline of the piracy problem. In recent years, thousands of seafarers have been killed, injured, assaulted, taken hostage or threatened as piracy and armed robbery have increased dramatically.. All seafarers transiting the Gulf of Aden and Northern Indian Ocean, have to live with the risk of attack. When ships are attacked by pirates, crews suffer the stress of being fired upon with guns and rocket propelled grenades and those captured can be held hostage for months. Following a piracy attack those involved can be seriously affected by post traumatic stress.   As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate with nor pay ransom to kidnappers, but gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailor.

     I am presently handling the case of a  Filipino sailor,  Christopher Cortez Ceprado, who was found dead last May 11, 2011 aboard MT Sea King , a Marshall Island-flagged chemical tanker, four days after it was attacked by pirates off the coast of Benin in West Africa. Heavily armed pirates on May 7, 2011  boarded chemical tanker MT Sea King while docked in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, . Ceprado, who was among the 15 Filipino crewmembers of the ship, was later found dead on May 11. The pirates looted the vessel and even the personal effects of the crew were taken. Ceprado's family hailed from my hometown  of Matabao. Tubigon, Bohol.   

"Equality," said Aristotle, "consists in the same treatment of similar persons." Unfortunately, his family is deprived of appropriate death compensation under the government’s  “double pay” policy  for victims of piracy attacks.

            The death of a seafarer during the term of his employment makes the employer liable to the former’s heirs for death compensation benefits.  The POEA Standard Employment Contract fixes the amount at US$50,000.00 and an additional amount of US$7,000.00 for each child, not exceeding four, under twenty-one years of age.  The employer becomes liable once it is established that the seafarer  died during the effectivity of his employment contract.

   On October 7, 2008, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued Board Resolution No. 4, which declared as “high risk” zone certain coordinates within the Gulf of Aden. The resolution also mandates that Filipino seafarers will receive double the amount of their basic wage, overtime pay, and leave pay while sailing within the declared high-risk zone. On any death, injury or illness while sailing within those areas, the seafarers are also entitled to a double amount of compensation and benefits. The problem with  this policy is that it only covers Somalia and the Gulf of Aden and a certain expanded area.The fact remains that piracy is not limited to Somalia and the Gulf of Aden. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) warned  seafarers to be extra cautious and to take necessary precautionary measures when transiting the following piracy prone areas:

a.         SOUTH EAST ASIA AND INDIAN SUB CONTINENT  Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malacca Straits, Malaysia,  Singapore Straits, South China Sea, Vietnam:

b.        AFRICA AND RED SEA: Nigeria,  Benin: Cotonou, Conakry (Guinea), Douala Outer Anchorage (Cameroon), Gulf of Aden/Red Sea.

c.         SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN WATERS: Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Haiti: Port Au Prince.

d.         REST OF THE WORLD: Arabian Sea / Off Oman, Indian Ocean/Off Seychelles / Off Madagascar / Off West Maldives / Off Mozambique, Iraq.

Although  Ceprado’s death occurred in Cotonou, Benin which is not within the “high risk” areas declared by the POEA Board Resolution No. 4, his family  is  seeking death benefits under the POEA “double pay” policy since he died under the same conditions and circumstances describing piracy. Depriving them of such “double pay” compensation is tantamount to a violation of the “equal protection clause” of the Philippine Constitution.

The Supreme Court has stressed in several rulings that the principle of equal protection is not a barren concept that may be casually swept aside. While it does not demand absolute equality, it requires that all persons similarly situated be treated alike, both as to privileges conferred and liabilities enforced. Verily, equal protection and security shall be accorded every person under identical or analogous circumstances in view of Section 1, Article III (Bill of Rights) of the 1987 Constitution which reads:   

“Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”

 Per Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) data, there were 330,424 Filipino seafarers deployed abroad in 2009 comprising almost 30 percent of the global maritime labor force. Although the number of deployed Filipino seafarers has decreased from 2006 (274,497), 2007 (266,553) to 2008 (261,614), the dollar remittances have been constantly  increasing from US$1.9B in 2006, US$2.2B in 2007 , US$3B in 2008, US$3.4B in 2009 to US$3.8B in 2010. 

Since the Philippines supplies a third of the world’s seafarers’ population, it will remain as among the most adversely affected and seriously alarmed by incidences of piracy in the high seas. Unfortunately, the present compensation scheme will remain violative of the “equal protection” clause of the Philippine Constitution as long as the “double pay” policy will cover a very limited group of seafarer victims of piracy.