Purpose of weekend/holiday processing
- The Circular mandates weekend and holiday processing to avoid jeopardizing emergency deployment and urgent replacement of Filipino seafarers.
- The Circular establishes the Labor Assistance Center (LAC) at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as the processing venue for urgent weekend/holiday contract needs.
Who may use the LAC facility
- All licensed manning agencies may avail of the weekend and holiday processing facility through the LAC.
- Accredited shipping companies may avail of the weekend and holiday processing facility through the LAC.
- Seafarers concerned may avail of the facility for weekend and holiday processing of employment contracts through the LAC.
- Requests for weekend/holiday processing must be submitted to the Center three (3) hours before the expected time of departure of the seafarers concerned.
Processing venue and timing
- The Labor Assistance Center (LAC) at NAIA shall accommodate processing of seafarers on week-ends and holidays.
- The Circular requires that weekend/holiday processing requests be filed to the Center three (3) hours before the expected departure time.
- The Circular is designed to enable urgent handling during periods when normal processing would otherwise be unavailable.
Required documents for processing
- Agencies and companies must submit the following documentary requirements for the departing seafarer/s to the Center:
- Letter Request for Processing
- Confirmed ticket together with xeroxed copies
- One Page Contract of Seafarers (2 copies)
- Valid Seaman’s Service Record Book (SSRB)
- Valid Seaman’s Registration Card (SRC)
- Seafarer’s Info Sheet
- Seafarer’s ID Sheet
- Agencies and companies must submit an Undertaking covering the following items:
- The foreign principal is duly accredited, the vessel is enrolled with them, and the salary scale applied has been duly approved.
- The position is available and the seafarer/s submitted are not included in the watchlist.
- The seafarer/s are to leave within Saturday, Sunday and morning of Monday or that particular holiday.
- Proofs (e.g., telex-advise) must be submitted on urgent dispatch requests received when the agency can no longer process at the Contract Processing Branch, PSO due to short notice, particularly when requests fall after office hours of the last working days of the week, on week-ends, and on holidays.
- Copies of the issued ticket/s and official receipts must be presented to ECPB as proof of actual deployment.
- Payment of processing fees and welfare fund contribution for seafarers processed on week-ends and holidays must be made immediately on the following day.
- Any misrepresentation committed by the agencies/companies shall be penalized by suspension of license after due investigation under POEA Rules and Regulations.
Fees and welfare fund payments
- The processing fee for weekend/holiday processing is Two Hundred Fifty Pesos (P250.00).
- The corresponding welfare fund contributions must be paid immediately on the following working day.
Coordination, endorsements, and document routing
- POEA copies of documents of seafarers processed at the LAC must be endorsed to ECPB, which shall coordinate the following:
- updating of job order balances
- monitoring of payment of required fees
- endorsement to the Central Records Division of the processed contracts and info sheet
- endorsement of the processed Overseas Employment Certificate (OEC)
- The endorsed documents to the Central Records Division must be accompanied by a logsheet on processed seafarers and OECs issued for transmittal to the Philippine Tourism Authority.
- Agencies/companies must claim the original OEC from ECPB for the purpose of refund of travel tax.
Penalty for misrepresentation
- The Undertaking requires that any misrepresentation committed by agencies/companies is penalized by suspension of license.
- License suspension must be imposed after due investigation in accordance with POEA Rules and Regulations.