Marina lauds House consolidation of maritime measures

Marina lauds House consolidation of maritime measures
Yashika F. Torib December 9, 2020 https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/12/09/business/maritime-business/marina...

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) welcomed the initiative of the House Committee on Transportation to consolidate four legislations that relate to the implementation of international maritime instruments in the Philippines.

Marina Administrator Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad lauded the efforts of Marino Partylist in harmonizing the House measures and drafting a unified bill.

“The enactment of this bill into law cures the fragmented mandates of relevant government agencies when it comes to implementing IMO Conventions,” Empedrad said.

He added that the Philippines will be able to fully enforce the relevant and mandatory International Maritime Organization (IMO) instruments by giving clear mandates to local maritime agencies implementing them.

“We hope that the consolidated bill becomes a law before the Philippine audit under the IMO Member State Audit Scheme (IMSAS) in October 2022,” Empedrad furthered.

Noting that the audit scheme uses the IMO Instruments Implementation Code (Code III), Marina emphasized the need for the Philippines to provide national provisions for these IMO mandatory instruments that relate to the safety of life at sea; prevention of pollution from a ship; standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers; load lines; tonnage measurement of ships; and regulations for preventing collisions at sea.

The Department of Transportation’s (DoTR) Narciso Vingson, Jr. agreed that the bill is fitting for the IMSAS audit that the Philippines will soon face.

The unified bill includes House Bill No. 33 authored by Pangasinan third district representative Rose Marie Arenas, House Bill 5222 introduced by Cagayan de Oro second district representative Rufus Rodriguez, House Bill 5758 by Samar first district representative Edgar Mary Sarmiento, and House Bill 6217 co-penned by Marino Party List representatives Carlo Gonzalez and Macnell Lusotan as well as Davao City first district representative Paolo Duterte.

Gonzalez, who chaired the technical working group, reminded the implementing agencies to be mindful of the country’s obligation to enforce the provisions that the Imo state parties, the Philippines included, have agreed upon.

“[This bill] will allow the country to fully enforce the provisions of the conventions that we have agreed to. As a commitment to maintaining the country’s good standing among the other maritime nations and the international community, it is in our best interest to faithfully comply with our obligations,” he said.

Gonzales added that the bill is relevant for an archipelagic nation whose maritime transportation is one of the major industries in the country. “Besides, the shipping industry also remains to be the primary method of transporting cargo from one territory to another,”
he said.

“As a responsible member of the IMO and the IMO Council, and in support of the global effort to promote safer ships and cleaner oceans, the Philippines will be able to fully implement relevant IMO mandatory instruments by giving clear mandates in maritime agencies implementing them,” Gonzales commented.

The creation of the unified bill was supported by representatives from key government agencies.