House Speaker Martin Romualdez gave his assurance on Tuesday, Dec. 13, that the country will comply with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) standards in three months to address Filipino seafarers’ woes and other concerns.

Romualdez, who accompanied his cousin, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. during his Brussels, Belgium trip, stressed that the welfare of Filipino seafarers in Europe is a priority of the Marcos administration.

“There’s a three-month period which we have to actually comply. Kung hindi, hindi marerecognize ‘yung mga... kumbaga yung mga graduate certificates natin, eh di mawawala ‘yung bisa (If those won’t be recognized...our graduate certificates would be invalid) It’s such an unfortunate condition. We all know that Filipino seafarers are the best,” he said in a media interview on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) commemorative summit.

Some 50,000 Filipino seafarers deployed on European Union (EU)-flagged vessels could find themselves at risk of losing their jobs if the Philippines fails to comply with EMSA standards.

The EU flagged the Philippines for deficiencies in local seafarer training and education earlier this year. It warned the government of possible nondeployment of Filipino seafarers for lack of Emsa-certified licenses.

In his meeting with international maritime employers and shipowners in Brussels, Marcos also assured them that the country is actively working to address the issues identified by EU regarding the Philippine seafarers’ education, training and certification system.

On Tuesday, the President ordered the creation of an advisory board, to be composed of government agencies, international shipowners and other stakeholders, to address the concerns of some 600,000 Filipino seafarers worldwide.

Romualdez noted the “sense of urgency” in tackling legislation in the hope of improving the educational system for the Philippine maritime industry.

“There are always a number of legislation always seeking the best for the welfare of our seafarers,” he said.

The Speaker, however, cited that other countries such as India that “perhaps have a more liberal view, and that’s what makes us less competitive.”

“We’ve lost our competitive edge to countries like India, who doubled up, so we’ve lost that market share. Our conditions are more stringent,” he said.

The proposed Maritime Education and Training Act is among the pending measures at the House of Representatives. This seeks to push for a modern maritime education and training regime and support the needs of maritime students and professionals.

“They definitely deserve to be given the best opportunities to excel,” Romualdez stated.