The Commission on Education (CHED) and the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) are looking for more “allies” to “help monitor compliance” of maritime training schools in the country amid the current and necessary improvements being done to the seafarers’ programs. Filipino seafarers (Photo from the Maritime Industry Authority) CHED Chairperson Prospero De Vera III on Tuesday, April 11, revealed that the commission does not have enough personnel to monitor all maritime training centers across the Philippines. Currently, they are working with Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista to look for more partners who can help. “Kailangan namin dagdag na tao kasi marami that’s why kami ni Secretary Bautista will have to look for additional allies to help monitor compliance (We need additional personnel that’s why together with Secretary Bautista, we will have to look for additional allies to help monitor compliance),” he said during the press briefing in Malacañang. “Kaso hindi naman ganun kadami ang staff ng CHED. Hindi rin ganun kadami ang staff ng MARINA and the schools are located all over the country (But CHED doesn’t have many personnel. Marina doesn’t have enough people either and the schools are located all over the country),” De Vera added. The call for more allies came after the decision of the European Commission (EC) to extend the recognition by the European Union (EU) of the Philippine certificates for seafarers onboard European vessels after months of uncertainty that 50,000 Filipino seafarers aboard European vessels could lose their jobs. The regional bloc cited the country’s “serious efforts to comply with the requirements, in particular in key areas like the monitoring, supervision and evaluation of training and assessment.” Last year, the EU flagged the country for deficiencies in local seafaring training and education. De Vera said they promised President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that they will immediately address the remaining non-compliance issues facing the industry. They also put a five-year moratorium starting last year on new maritime training programs to prioritize the evaluation of already existing programs and check the schools’ compliance with international standards. “This is the first time we declared a moratorium on maritime education in the whole history of maritime education. That shows our seriousness on the part of CHED and Marina that we want to really look at all of the programs,” he stressed. The six remaining areas for improvement have been identified as: monitoring, supervision, and evaluation of training and assessment; examination and assessment of competence; program and course design and approval; availability and use of training facilities and simulators; on-board training; and issue, revalidation, and registration of certificates and endorsements. The Philippines has been failing the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) audit for 16 years, with the first audit done in 2006.