Pinoys must get higher backpay – Greek court
Higher back wages await 12 Filipino seafarers serving aboard a Greek vessel, following a crucial victory before a Greek court late December. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Embassy in Athens said the Piraeus Court of First Instance ordered the owner of the MV Aetea Sierra to pay a higher salary to its crew which includes 12 Filipinos. "Under a court order issued on 21 December 2009, the award to be given to the crew was calculated using Greek wage standard which is about four times more than what the seafarers would have received on wages stipulated in their contracts," the DFA said in a statement posted on its website Monday. It said the award would cover the period from July 9 to November 9. Residual claims shall follow to cover the period starting November 10, 2009 until the date of the seafarers’ actual departure from Greece to the Philippines. The DFA said the Philippine Embassy is already making arrangements for the Filipino seafarers’ repatriation. "Eleven of them have completed their contracts and have signified their wish to go home," the DFA said. An article on the Philippine Embassy in Athens website identified the Filipino crew as 2nd mate Jose Cardenas, 2nd engineer Gardner Monte, 3rd engineer Jesus Hantic, oiler Wilfredo Ranara, oiler Ric Leano Camina, AB Florvic Labaco, AB Gil Jhun Moneva, AB Constancio Cubay Jr., 2nd Cook Primo Fernandico, messman Erolin Chiong Jr., messman Jerry Laride, and deckman Julius Caesar Flores. The other crewmembers included Ukranian and Montenegrin nationals. "(In) the case of Mr. Hantic, he stands to receive about $26,000 – or more than four times the salary provided in his POEA contract, using Greek salary standards," the Philippine Embassy in Athens said. The DFA also said should the ship owner fail to pay the crew, the vessel will be auctioned off to pay for the crew’s wages. If the sale becomes necessary, the process is expected to take from one to one and a half months, according to the Philippine Embassy. Also, the Embassy said Greek regulations require that the ship be manned by seafarers from the Common Market (EEC or European Economic Community). But to date, the ship owner is unable to fulfill the requirement and is seeking permission from the Greek Ministry of Mercantile Marine to hire from Ukraine or Sri Lanka to facilitate the early return of the Filipino seamen. "If necessary, the Embassy may consider requesting the Greek Ministry to allow the Filipino seamen to go home even before the arrival of the relief crew," the Embassy said in the article. Philippine Ambassador to Athens Rigoberto Tiglao had already written a note verbale to Greek authorities to allow the Filipino crewmen to immediately return home, even with only a skeletal crew on the ship. Filipino crewmen of MV Aetea Sierra earlier sought the help of the Philippine Embassy after negotiations with the Greek vessel owner for their unpaid salaries and damages collapsed. The seafarers also filed a case against the vessel owner. A Greek lawyer offered by the Embassy represented a Filipino ship engineer, while lawyers of the International Transport Federation assisted the other Filipino crewmen. The MV Aetea Sierra was impounded in the Piraeus Port in September near Athens when a case was filed against its owners by the ship charterers for its alleged failure to unload the cargo at the agreed port. Its crew had then been stranded in the ship since July last year. [See: ‘Detained’ Pinoy seamen in Athens long for home] - Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV