Standing before maritime leaders and industry partners gathered at the Museo Del Galeon in Pasay City, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac pointed to a set of safeguards now in place for the country’s seafarers, from the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers to the DMW Sea-Based Rules and the Standard Employment Contract for Seafarers and Overseas Fishers. He framed these measures as protections meant to follow a seafarer through every stage of employment.
The occasion was the Seafarer Social Summit, held on 22 June 2026, where the DMW sat alongside stakeholders and partners from the maritime sector to acknowledge the workers who keep international shipping and trade running. Cacdac said the Department’s work is guided by the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to defend the rights, safety, and welfare of seafarers and the families they leave behind.
A seafarer’s protection, the Secretary noted, is not confined to the period spent at sea. He cited the network the Department relies on once workers are deployed, including Migrant Workers Offices, Philippine Foreign Service Posts, licensed manning agencies, principals, and Seafarers Welfare and Crisis Management Officers, all of which feed into monitoring and assistance systems built to respond when a seafarer encounters trouble overseas. Families back home, he added, remain covered through assistance, reintegration, and welfare programs.
Industry recognition came from keynote speaker Ms. Catherine Logie of OneOcean and Lloyd’s Register Group, who spoke to the standing Filipino seafarers hold in global shipping. She tied that reputation directly to competence, observing that shipowners entrust multi-million-dollar assets to Filipino crews on the strength of their knowledge and expertise.
Logie closed her remarks by urging seafarers to keep building their skills through learning, leadership, mentoring, and communication. “Filipino seafarers, you are the future of this industry,” she told the audience.
