Senate bill filed to protect Pinoy fishermen

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Francis Tolentino is pushing for the passage of the “Good Samaritan at Sea Law,” which aims to implement provisions in international maritime instruments concerning the safety of life at sea and the duty to render assistance to persons in distress at sea.

In filing Senate Bill 209, Tolentino said the proposal was stirred by the recent maritime incident concerning an allision in the West Philippine Sea that involved the lives of 22 Filipino fishermen.

“This bill was crafted to ensure that persons guilty of jeopardizing the lives of men at sea and those who unreasonably fail to render assistance to persons in distress at sea do not go unpunished,” he said in his explanatory note.

According to Tolentino, the bill, which shall be known as the “Good Samaritan at Sea Law,” aims to implement provisions in international maritime instruments ratified by the Philippine government concerning the safety of life at sea and the duty to render assistance to persons in distress at sea to which the Philippines is a state party to, including the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 and its Protocols of 1978 and 1988 and Agreement of 1996.

“As a key player in the global maritime industry, it is but imperative for the country to stay true to its commitments to the international community to implement and enforce laws affecting maritime safety in order to protect not just the standing of the country in the international community but to protect the very lives of the thousands of Filipinos at sea,” he said.

Any violation or failure to perform any of the acts shall be punishable by a fine of not less than P5 million to P10 million, according to the senator. If the violator is the cause or part of the ship that caused the distress at sea, the fine shall not be less than P10 million, but not more than P20 million.

“If the violation was committed within internal waters or within the territorial sea, an additional penalty of imprisonment of not less than six months but not more than a year shall be imposed. If the violator is the cause or part of the ship that caused the distress at sea, an additional penalty of imprisonment of not less than a year and a day but not more than two years shall be imposed,” he said.

Tolentino added that repeat offenders or violators shall be dealt with the maximum penalties allowed. No foreign person shall be deported without the payment of the imposed judicial and/or administrative fines and service of sentence, if any.

The jurisdiction to determine violations and impose the appropriate penalties thereto shall belong to any of the regional trial courts in the province or city nearest to the place where the distress occurred, the senator said.