President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. bared that the European Commission has pledged to help the Philippines fix its long-time unresolved deficiencies in its maritime education to finally secure European accreditation.
Marcos revealed this during his arrival speech on Thursday night, Dec. 15 at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.
He said he was able to get the commitment during his meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union (ASEAN-EU) Commemorative Summit.
"hey are the ones who actually are the ones who provide that accreditation. So I explained to her what we have done, that we have this new advisory council and she made a promise that she would – that the Commission itself would provide technical help to us so that within the three months – we have a three-month deadline – within the three months that we will be able to remedy all of the deficiencies that EMSA has been pointing out and hopefully we finally solve this problem," Marcos said.
Getting the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) accreditation is crucial as the country tries to prevent Filipino seafarers in EU-flagged vessels from losing their jobs.
In order to get accredited the country must comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention).
The President also announced he was able to get the commitment of leading shipowners in Europe to assist the country in getting its seafarers’ EMSA accreditation through the creation of an advisory council composed of concerned government agencies, international and local shipowners, and other stakeholders.