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IN a
rare move, the Norwegian government has given the
Philippines a technical assistance grant to study the
country’s maritime laws and possibly propose omnibus
legislation which would solve overlapping functions of
several agencies.
Amounting to $200,000 (P9.77 million), the study entails
the creation of a bills review committee which would
examine all the country’s maritime laws, according to
Maria Elena H. Bautista, undersecretary for Maritime
Sector of Department of Transportation and
Communications.
“I do
not care who or what agency will go as long as we cure
the sickness of the country’s maritime sector,” she said
in an interview. She added that the agency will form a
third-party body, composed of experts from the industry,
from Norway and from professors from the University of
the
Philippines.
“No one
from the Marina [Maritime Industry Authority] and the
PCG [Philippine Coast Guard] will sit at the committee
in order to have an objective output,” Bautista said,
referring to various overlapping laws which have caused
conflict between the two agencies.
Once the
Norwegian-funded study begins, it is expected to closely
examine the Multisectoral Task Force on Maritime
Development, which, among others, was directed to solve
the overlapping of functions of the two agencies.
Another
issuance—Executive Order 477—has given Marina, the power
to deputize some of its functions, such as ensuring
vessel safety and actual verification of the number of
passengers onboard ships, to the PCG.
As
expected, this has created tension between officials of
the two agencies, which was exacerbated when MT Solar 1
sunk and spilled oil off Guimaras Island last year.
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