President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of an advisory board with government agencies and international shipowners to address the concerns on the deployment of Filipino seafarers.
Malacañang said Marcos made the directive during a meeting with international maritime employers and various shipowners in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
In his remarks, the President assured the European Union’s transport officials that the Philippine government is working hard to address certification issues concerning Filipino seafarers to make them compliant with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention.
“Our seafarers are of great importance to the Philippines in many, many ways. Although we recognize that in the last many years, the Philippines has done very well in terms of being the leading seafarers around the world, however, with the changing situation after the pandemic, with the changing situation especially when we talk about supply line problems, all of these areas have to be revisited,” Marcos told shipowners and stakeholders during the meeting.
“That comes with the training, changes in the curriculum, all of these things have to be ascertained,” he pointed out.
According to Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople, the law identifies the establishment of an advisory body to assess training and qualifications.
“Under the law creating the Department of Migrant Workers, we checked and there’s a provision there that the department can actually form or create advisory bodies with the participation of key stakeholders including employers and in this case the international shipowners,” Ople said.
“We can meet on a regular basis with MARINA (Maritime Industry Authority), CHED (Commission on Higher Education) and other relevant institutions,” Ople added.
The move is also part of the government's efforts to comply with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) standards after the EU flagged the Philippines for deficiencies in local seafarer training and education earlier this year.
A failure of compliance with EMSA would put about 50,000 Filipino seafarers in Europe-flagged vessels at risk of losing their jobs.