Congress ratifies Tatak Pinoy, magna carta for Filipino sailors bills 

CONGRESS on Wednesday ratified the bicameral conference committee reports of two bills — one that seeks to make Philippine-made products globally competitive, and another that upholds the rights and welfare of Filipino seafarers.

In ratifying the bicameral report on the Tatak Pinoy bill, lawmakers approved the creation of a multi-year strategy to improve and diversify local enterprises, linking them to global value chains.

The proposed law was approved amid the Philippines’ participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is known to be the world’s largest free trade agreement, involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

The measure also seeks to establish a council that would manage and propose improvements to the Tatak Pinoy strategy, with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) chief as chair and the secretaries of the Trade and Finance departments as vice-chairpersons.

At Wednesday’s Senate plenary session, Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, Senate Finance Committee chairman and author of the Senate’s Tatak Pinoy bill, said the bicameral conference committee made minor amendments to the measure he originally submitted.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rafael T. Tulfo, who sponsored the Senate version of the Magna Carta for Seafarers, said the reconciled version of the measure will require seafaring firms to allow monthly leaves of at least 3.5 days per month of employment.

The bill will also establish a shipboard training program for seafarers that will be regulated by the Maritime Industry Authority.

Legislators also agreed on adding a provision that will ensure a seafarer will be given restitution of monetary awards in a damages case if the lawsuit is reversed on appeal. – John Victor D. Ordonez and Beatriz Marie D. Cruz