The chairman of House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs has called on government agencies to comply with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW Convention), particularly those identified by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) of the European Union (EU) to save the jobs of thousands Filipino seafarers.
Rep. Ron Salo of KABAYAN Partylist has invited key government agencies for a briefing on the compliance of the Philippines with the requirements under the STCW Convention.
“We have been informed that around 40,000 to 50,000 of our Filipino seafarers working on European vessels are [at risk] of losing their certification by the EMSA because of the inability of concerned Philippines agencies to implement reforms since the first assessment done in 2006,” Salo said.
“It is high time that we take compliance with the STCW Convention seriously, as this will ultimately cost the livelihood of thousands of our Filipino seafarers,” Salo explained.
During the Thursday’s hearing, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Assistant Secretary Jerome Pampolina said that aside from loss of jobs in seafaring and manning industries, OFW cash remittances from all sea-based OFWs in a five-year period averaged a total of P376.12 billion.
He said this amount of remittances is also at risk should the country fail to meet the minimum global standards of maritime education, training, and certification.
Pampolina proposed creation of a tripartite roadmap to boost Philippine competitiveness as the best source of maritime workers and officers.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega assured that they have been closely coordinating with EU member-states to facilitate the discussion of STCW compliance with the EMSA. The DFA committed to continue to use diplomatic tools to defend the country’s STCW status.
“We always present to the EU how important and competent our seafarers are, and that it is a mutually beneficial matter for us to be certified. We also discuss this with the European maritime companies because they want to continue hiring Filipino seafarers,” De Vega said.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), on the other hand, highlighted the solution of imposing of a 5-year moratorium on the opening of new marine transportation and marine engineering programs and the institutionalization of national maritime admission examinations (NMAE) and the phasing out of non-compliant programs.
Salo, meanwhile, requested the Philippine Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to present all the 23 EMSA findings and the compliance being undertaken by the concerned agencies of the government. MARINA grouped these items into six key areas of inspection.
Officer-In-Charge of the Office of the Executive Director of MARINA Samuel Batalla noted that there are only a few items that are needed to be complied with, such as the curriculum of the maritime education programs, which should be completed by the end of December.
Salo pointed out the inefficiencies of the changing curricula of maritime programs, noting the lack of coordination with the MARINA and Commission on Higher Education.
“These are already recurring issues when it comes to curriculum. Sasabihin ng MARINA, CHED ang may hawak, tapos pag tinanong natin ang CHED, sasabihin ang MARINA naman. So sino ba talaga, at the end of the day?” Salo asked.
“Kung paulit-ulit na lang na issue ang compliance ng ating curriculum, dapat matagal nang na-address yan. The education sector should definitely know better,” Salo added.