Maritime Compass

The NCMB issues a clarificatory advisory on the reckoning date of the Magna Carta for Seafarer’s claims. The said advisory clearly stipulates that the reckoning point to determine if a case is covered by the law is the date of the Notice to Arbitrate and not any other dates.

A number of Voluntary Arbitrators have issued decisions and rulings wherein they refused to apply Section 59 of the Magna Carta to complaints filed after its effectivity on 12 October 2024. Instead of reckoning the applicability of the law from the date of the Notice to Arbitrate, voluntary arbitrators have used the incident date, medical repatriate date, contract date, among others, as the determinative factor to apply the provisions of the Magna Carta. This is a clear departure from the clear language of the law and its Implementing Rules and Regulation. Worse, this results in the inconsistency in the resolution of cases and uncertainty in the execution of monetary awards.

Because of this growing trend in the inconsistent rulings of the Voluntary Arbitrators, the National Conciliation Mediation Board (NCMB), upon the recommendation of the Tripartite Voluntary Arbitration Advisory Council (TVAAC), has issued Advisory No. 01 to clarify the proper reckoning date and the execution of monetary awards under Section 59 of the Magna Carta to ensure its uniform implementation in all arbitration proceedings.

Particularly, Section I of Advisory No. 01 clarified the coverage of Section 59, thus:

“Section 59 of the Magna Carta shall apply to monetary award, including but not limited to salaries, wages, statutory benefits, death and disability claims, claims for damages, and other similar awards arising from seafarer complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) or NCMB on or after October 12, 2024, the date of effectivity of the law.”

Relatedly, Advisory No. 01 has likewise clarified the phrase “complaints filed with the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) or NCMB” or the reckoning date for purposes of determining whether Section 59 of the law is applicable, thus:

“a. A complaint shall be deemed filed with the NCMB only upon its submission to voluntary arbitration. Such submission may occur through any of the following modes: direct submission, referral from NCMB after conciliation-mediation, referral from NLRC or DOLE, referral of request for assistance, or notice to arbitrate, as applicable. Hence, the reckoning date for the application of Section 59 shall be the filing dates of the applicable mode of submission to voluntary arbitration such as the following:

1. date of the direct submission to voluntary arbitration,
2. date of filing of conciliation-mediation cases (preventive mediation or notice of strike or lockout) submitted to voluntary arbitration,
3. date of filing or request for assistance referred to voluntary arbitration, and
4. date of filing or NLRC and DOLE cases that ordered the referral of the case to voluntary arbitration, and
5. date of filing of notice to arbitrate

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c. Complaints as enumeration in Section II.a. filed on or after 12 October 2024 shall be governed by Section 59 of R.A. No. 12021.

d. Complaints filed before 12 October 2024 shall continue to be governed by the laws and rules in force at the time of their submission.”

With this Advisory, it is now clear that the reckoning date for the application of Section 59 is the filing date of the above-mentioned modes to voluntary arbitration. Thus, we hope that the Voluntary Arbitrators will be more mindful in resolving cases submitted before them. More importantly, as in all cases referred to us, we will ensure that this Advisory is properly observed and that no deviation from the law and its IRR shall be permitted.

For a copy of the advisory, please see the link below.
Advisory No. 01, Series of 2026 – Clarification on the Application of Section 59 of RA No. 12021 or the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers to Voluntary Arbitration Cases