A lawmaker on Tuesday known as on the Department of Labor and Employment to take motion towards alleged “ambulance-chasing labor lawyers” who goal seafarers and maritime manning firms.
House Assistant Majority Leader Margarita Nograles, in an announcement, stated such “ambulance chasing lawyers” method seafarers and provide them authorized providers in submitting claims towards manning companies in trade for an enormous payout sourced from anticipated claims from the companies.
“The country’s maritime sector is under attack by these ambulance chasers who exploit seafarers to squeeze money claims from manning agencies,” Nograles stated.
“The DOLE and other pertinent agencies like the Department of Migrant Workers and the Maritime Industry Authority should exercise their authority to stop this practice,” Nograles added.
Nograles’ name echoed that of the Association of Licensed Manning Agencies (ALMA) Maritime Group, a bunch of 71 manning companies deploying round 174,000 Filipino seafarers at any given time, which has searched for the Labor division’s assist in addressing the identical downside.
Nograles additionally cited the Seafarers Protection Act which gives that it “shall be unlawful for any person to engage in ambulance chasing or the act of soliciting, personally or through an agent, from seafarers, or their heirs, the pursuit of any claim against them employers for the purpose of recovery of monetary claim or benefit, including legal interest, arising from accident, illness or death, in exchange of an amount or fee which shall be retained or deducted from the monetary claim or benefit granted to or awarded to the seafarers or their heirs.”
Under the stated regulation, any individual discovered responsible of ambulance chasing will face a high quality value P50,000 to P100,000, or with an imprisonment of 1 12 months to 2 years, or each.
GMA News Online sought the response of the Labor division, which has but to answer as of posting time.—Llanesca Panti/LDF, GMA Integrated News
