Finding the Filipino seafarer’s education and training pathway

Finding the Filipino seafarer’s education and training pathway
Atty. Brenda V. Pimentel October 22, 2025 https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/10/22/business/maritime/finding-the-fil...

THE seafaring spirit is inherent to the Filipino; this was acknowledged by the various colonizing powers and possibly the reason maritime schools were established in the country before the turn of the 20th century. The maritime schools briefly suspended operations due to the war and reopened to continue the mission of training this archipelago’s merchant marine workforce. That maritime and nautical schools continued to thrive albeit some disruptions is proof not only of the importance of developing maritime human resources capable of manning sea transport but more as testament to the Filipino’s seafaring mettle.

The Filipino seafarer’s mastery in navigation gained global recognition even before the International Convention on the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) was adopted. The onset of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and subsequently the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) both of which are within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement hastened the movement of natural persons across national borders. These international covenants helped in the progressive liberalization in people mobility, thereby clearing the barrier which limits employment of non-national in domestic establishments. Negotiations to enable nationals to work beyond domestic borders were conducted; for the Philippines negotiations for cross border mobility extensively covered the seafaring profession.

Liberalization in the provision of services across nations was not without its challenges. For merchant shipping, the call for standards in terms of processes and documentation covering the trade and exchange including that of the safe and timely delivery of goods was given high priority. No longer is maritime transport concerns confined to the proper construction of ship which was covered by the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) and the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol); rather, adopting standards in qualifying seafarers to undertake safe navigation became as important.

Liberalization in the provision of services across nations was not without its challenges. For merchant shipping, the call for standards in terms of processes and documentation covering the trade and exchange including that of the safe and timely delivery of goods was given high priority. No longer is maritime transport concerns confined to the proper construction of ship which was covered by the International Convention on the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) and the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol); rather, adopting standards in qualifying seafarers to undertake safe navigation became as important.

The efforts of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) of convincing policy makers for the agency to assume the function of certifying the qualification of Filipino seafarers hinges on the affirmation they can render the ship seaworthy. The commitment was focused on the exercise of overseeing the proper implementation of the STCW Convention through the development of a robust compliance monitoring and enforcement mechanism over the various agencies undertaking related functions such as those of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) on licensure examination and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the delivery of the principles of pedagogy for maritime education. Such direction was consistent with the commitment of the Philippines as a signatory to the STCW Convention primarily in its role as a flag state.

As events unfolded, the transfer of the STCW functions to Marina covered a much bigger dimension. Republic Act (RA) 10635 of 2015 which designated Marina as the maritime administration for the STCW implementation was a step contemplated to strengthen the compliance mechanism aimed at ensuring the proper and judicious performance by all government agencies with STCW associated functions became the ticket for the maritime administration to eventually assume the tasks of the professional regulatory body and partly that of the higher education function of the CHED. RA 12021 enacted in 2024 (Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers) led the full transformation of the Marina into the dual role of flag administration and maritime higher education agency which is distinct from CHED.

The rationale of shifting STCW related functions among the various agencies is baffling. The policy of nurturing the knowledge and skills of young men and women seeking a seafaring career logically falls under the education agency; the attestation of gaining qualification to join shipboard posting rests with the maritime administration; marketing the Filipino seafarer and ensuring that he enjoys his basic rights in his capacity as shipboard worker are within the province of the labor and migrant workers departments. The clear distinction of these functions were abandoned through the series of legislation which merged the otherwise clear delineation of roles.

Restructuring the STCW functions did not come in recent years; such episode dates back to the 1990’s when the IMO whitelist was required of shipboard labor supplying-countries. The audits by flag states followed and with the issues surrounding the results of the 2006 audits, realignment of the functions through RA 10635 was considered as the immediate corrective action which unfortunately did not resolve the outstanding nonconformities found by the audits.

Will RA 12021 be the ultimate answer to the issue of the STCW problems? It’s everyone’s hope!