Monday, June 27, 2011

Bits and Pieces on the Internal Threats to Marital Relationships On board Ships

Two of the topics for discussion on the forthcoming International  Seafarers Family Convention on August 4 and 5, 2011 at the PICC in Manila are Gender Equality and the Impact of Adultery.
Reading it at first, stunned me because it seems to sound one sided, but for semantics sake benefiting the International Community, where  ADULTERY  is defined as sexual relationship of a man or a woman other  than your lawful spouse, maybe that’s why the term will be used for the Convention. For Filipinos, in general terms we call it marital “Infidelity”. By Infidelity, it means unfaithfulness in marriage.
From Jlp-law.com for purposes of clearly understanding the terms, it was described as “ADULTERY” and “CONCUBINAGE”:
What is concubinage?
Concubinage is committed by any husband who shall keep a mistress in the conjugal dwelling, or, shall have sexual intercourse, under scandalous circumstances, with a woman who is not his wife, or shall cohabit with her in any other place (Article 334 of the Revised Penal Code or RPC).
What is adultery?
Adultery means the carnal relation between a married woman and a man who is not her husband, the latter knowing her to be married, even if the marriage be subsequently declared void (RPC, Article 333). Each sexual intercourse constitutes a crime of adultery.
What are the differences between adultery and concubinage?
Adultery is committed by a wife (who must also be charged together with the other man), while concubinage is committed by a husband (who must be charged together with the concubine).
Proof of sexual intercourse is enough in adultery, but in concubinage, the prosecution must prove that the sexual intercourse must be under scandalous circumstances, or that the husband kept a mistress in the conjugal dwelling or cohabited with her in any other place.
The penalty for concubinage is lower than that of adultery. The penalty for the concubine is only destierro, while the penalty for the man other in adultery is the same as that of the guilty wife.
See!!!! How biased the law of my country is...
For a Filipino Seafarer to be charged with Concubinage in his home country is like reaching for the stars. They are miles away and to find the proof will cost the wife all her fortune. Conversely, it is easier for the Seafarer to find proof for an unfaithful wife ashore. 
For companies of passenger and cargo vessels that respects the equality of gender among the Seafaring professionals the threat to Marital Relationship becomes internal. Sad to say, on this aspect the wives ashore are helpless. They have no available resources to get the first hand evidence of the Offending Seafarer. 
 Situations and cases like these are getting rampant on board the ships in the fleet as the company widely open  its doors to Filipino women in the industry  both in the Steward department and for Cadets on board, jeopardizing the companies' image and moral integrity. Illicit affairs on board are growing in numbers by leaps and bounds. I just hope that the  Filipino values  for "HONOR", "DIGNITY", "INTEGRITY","RESPECT for families" will not be compromised further. By way of this blog post, I  am hoping that this matter will be closely looked into and policies will  be drawn up to protect the image of the company against the issues of Morality as well as  the family as part of it's corporate social responsibility. 
Because, it will be a nerve breaking and heart crushing experience, if  it happens to any of my friends whose husbands are also Seafarers. Definitely, I am  not an exemption, nor spared from the threats and the hard facts of reality. Indeed, reality bites!
 But which threat is more offensive to the wives ashore, External or Internal?  Either way, the “TRUST” is broken and it is beyond argument that the marital relationship is on the rocks. For now, the most that we can do is to keep our eyes and ears open to the tell tale signs of times. Never be over confident, because just like the pirates at the Gulf of Aden they strike any time. Women are blessed with strong intuition and for those having the gift of clairvoyance, they can readily feel that things are about to happen right under their noses. As they said, we can only hold the men and women we LOVE with-in an arm stretch, beyond that, it will only be a matter of FATE and DESTINY. Nevertheless, be ready not to get mad, but simply to get even, with-in the legal bounds of the laws of our home country. Life is an adventure, and we have to continue sailing head on, against the strong winds of circumstances that are truly uncalled for.... PRAY HARD for STRENGTH and the COURAGE to STAND UP for your rights. Be strong and ready your weapons to give them the dose of their own medicine....For awareness sake, I am firing this warning shot!

Resources:
Jlplaw.com
Image credits:
simplygetexback.wordpress.com

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