Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Sunday, October 30 called on the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to ensure the country’s compliance to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) in order to save the jobs of thousands of Filipino seafarers onboard European vessels.

Villanueva, returning from an official trip to France after meeting members of the French Parliament, said that the reputation and livelihoods of Filipino seafarers are at stake should the Philippines fail to comply with European qualifications on maritime education, training, and certification.

“Our counterparts in France speak highly of the dedication and work ethic of Filipino seafarers working in European vessels. We need to uphold that sterling reputation by securing the qualifications of our seafarers under European Union (EU) standards,” Villanueva said in a statement.

The senator said the most urgent concern for now is for the country to pass the evaluation by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) of the country’s STCW compliance set in November.

In its 2020 audit, the EMSA indicated inconsistencies in the education and training programs for Filipino seafarers.

Villanueva said the country has not been able to pass EMSA audits since 2006, and failure to comply with the STCW would result in the revocation of the recognition of Filipino seafarers' qualifications.

“We assured in our meetings with members of the French Parliament that we are doing everything we can to maintain the EU qualifications of our Filipino seafarers,” he said.

“This is a promise not only to our European partners, but also to our hardworking Filipino seafarers and their families,” according to the lawmaker.

Villanueva previously called on MARINA and CHED to rectify the adverse findings of the 2020 EMSA audit of the country’s SCTW compliance, to which MARINA was given a deadline last March to respond.

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) warned that this is the final year of the Philippines to adopt corrective measures to fully comply with the international standard.

Failure to comply with the SCTW standards would affect some 30,615 Filipino seafarers currently working on EU-flagged ships, based on the numbers from the EMSA Outlook for 2020, according to the DMW.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data also show that as of 2021, Filipino seafarers sent home a total of $6.54 billion or P378.96-billion.

“We need to find how we have been consistently failing the evaluations since 2006, and how MARINA and CHED can snap this losing streak. How did we let this go on for so long? Now, the entire industry and people’s livelihoods are in danger,” Villanueva said.

“MARINA and CHED, in coordination with agencies such as the DMW, should exert all efforts to help the industry and go full speed ahead to support the jobs of our Filipino seafarers,” he added.

The lawmaker said he will request MARINA and CHED to provide the Senate a report on the compliance status on the SCTW, with the recommended corrective measures based on the EMSA audit findings.