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THE
Maritime Training Council (MTC), an agency that
accredits training centers for seafarers, wants to have
its own charter and essential manpower positions just
like any other government office to fend off moves by
other sectors for its abolition.
MTC
officer in charge Noriel Devanadera told reporters they
are now crafting a bill for Congress so the agency may
have its own charter, employees and budget from the
national government.
Devanadera, who is also the administrator of the
Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA), said
the MTC would be renamed as the National Seamen’s
Certification Board. It will remain an attached agency
of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
“Right
now, all our employees are consultants, contractuals,
job orders… . We want to have our own plantilla
positions just like any other government agency,” he
said at the sidelines of a symposium organized by the
Philippine Manning Convention, a group composed of
mostly manning firms.
The MTC
does not have its own office and rents a room inside the
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration building
in Ortigas center. Its 36 employees, including
Devanadera, are borrowed from other DOLE attached
agencies
It has
an operational budget of about P35 million a year, all
of which come from the budget of the OWWA.
The
MTC’s move was a response to the move of Undersecretary
Maria Elena Bautista of the Department of Transportation
and Communications (DOTC) in February to abolish the
said agency.
Bautista
gave an unsolicited proposal to the DOLE to abolish the
MTC as part of the Arroyo administration’s
rationalization program, with the Maritime Industry
Authority as the central maritime administrator.
“In a
rationalized situation, an ad hoc agency such as the MTC
should not be there. There’s no need for a coordinative
body doing technical functions when you can strengthen
the focus of each agency,” Bautista said in an earlier
interview.
According to her plan, the MTC will be replaced by a
steering committee within the DOTC offices. The new body
will only coordinate between its members.
DOLE, in
response to the DOTC initiatives, said there is no
reason to disturb the existence of the agency and that
the Labor Department has been recognized worldwide as
the lead agency handling concerns for all overseas
Filipino workers, seafarers included.
Malacañang, to solve the tussle between the two
departments, has ordered an indefinite status-quo order
for MTC.
MTC was
created on May 1, 1984 pursuant to the Letter of
Instruction under the then Marcos administration to
mainly implement the International Maritime
Organization’s standards of training, certification, and
watchkeeping for Seafarers.
The
council is composed of the DOLE secretary as chairman
with the heads of the Commission on Higher Education,
POEA, OWWA, Marina, Professional Regulation Commission,
Philippine Coast Guard, Department of Foreign Affairs,
Office of the President, and private sector
representatives from the employers and seafarers sectors
as members. |
