Visitors check out the different amenities of the ‘Alagang OWWA: Seafarers Hub’ located along Mabini Street, Barangay 670, Ermita, Manila, during its launching on July 11, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — Labor group Federation of Free Workers asked the Supreme Court Thursday to strike down the provision in the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers which imposes the payment of bonds during the execution of labor awards.

In the petition for certiorari filed by FFW president Sonny Matula and seafarers Joy Martinez, Julius Claramon and Arnaldo Borromeo, they said Section 59 which imposes a bond requirement on seafarers seeking to enforce monetary awards from labor tribunals is unconstitutional.

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They also said it “serves no legitimate purpose other than to delay the delivery of justice to seafarers who have already endured long and costly legal battles.”

Respondents to the petition are Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin as well as secretaries of the Department of Migrant Workers and Department of Labor and Employment, among others.

The petitioners alleged that the inclusion of the bond requirement is a result of strong lobbying efforts of shipowners, manpower agencies and employers who sought to undermine the swift execution of labor awards. 

The bond is supposed to combat “ambulance chasing,” a practice by lawyers or law firms who use workers or seafarers with work-related compensation claims to get money from manning agencies while depriving the victims of the compensation that they deserve.

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Petitioner also said the bond requirement is only imposed on seafarers and not on land-based workers or other employees.

“This creates an unreasonable classification that fails the equal protection test,” the petitioners said.

They further said that the bond requirement undermines the principle of speedy justice as tribunals such as the National Labor Relations Commission and the National Conciliation and Mediation Board are designed to provide expeditious resolutions to labor disputes.

“By imposing an additional financial hurdle exclusively on seafarers, this requirement unjustifiably delays the enforcement of final and executory decisions, contradicting the very purpose of these labor adjudicatory bodies,” the petitioners said.