MANILA, Philippines – Senator Imee Marcos on Monday, December 18, commemorated UN International Migrant Workers Day, urging the government to “look at disruptive world events squarely” so that its programs for Filipino migrant workers remain relevant.
Marcos warned that “the threats to their jobs, if not their lives,” are growing particularly for Filipino seafarers due to the present state of the global maritime industry and expanding geopolitical conflict.
“Shipping giants Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have just announced a halt to their operations in the Red Sea, with Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacking more cargo ships to avenge the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” the senator explained.
“This is happening while shipping companies are coping with higher costs, lower freight charges, and a weaker demand for container transport amid an oversupply of ships,” she added.
She cited Maersk’s plan to cut 10,000 jobs and Hapag-Lloyd’s 58-percent drop in third-quarter revenues from a year earlier.
Filipinos comprise 40% of Maersk’s seafarers, and if 4,000 Filipino seafarers lose their jobs, Marcos estimates that the dip in remittances could reach hundreds of millions annually.
Filipino seafarers, who are among the highest-paid overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), are required to remit at least 80% of their salary each month, contributing 6.7 billion pesos or some 20% of the total OFW remittances in 2022, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Marcos fears that the loss of jobs among Filipino seafarers and the lack of employment options back home could force their wives to take up the role of breadwinner, disrupting traditional family setups.
“How many more Filipino children will grow up motherless?” the senator asked.
Women comprise 57.8% of almost two million OFWs, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data for 2022 – a figure higher than the world average of 48.1% reported by the Washington-based Pew Research Center just a year earlier.
“It’s time to create a support network for the possibility of solo fathers among our seafarers,” Marcos urged.
As shipping companies take initiatives toward green energy, Marcos also called for better pay prospects and not just training programs for Filipino seafarers to be deployed on methanol-enabled ships.
“Green energy is not necessarily safer, since methanol is highly combustible. Higher risk deserves higher compensation,” the senator said.
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