THE meaning of 'seven seas,' as in 'sail the seven seas,' has evolved from its original definition, which in the old days meant the major seas of the world that navies and explorers and navigators had to explore and conquer, occasionally annexing territories found along the way, for the motherland. Today, 'seven seas' has a more mercantilist orientation, and it simply means the commercial shipping routes that vessels of all kinds and sizes ply in service of global trade and commerce. And in those routes, one specific country dominates the crewing of the commercial ships. In the seven seas, the Filipino seaman is king.