Robredo vows to enact ship registry bill

Robredo vows to enact ship registry bill
CIH March 9, 2022 https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/03/09/business/maritime/robredo-vows-to...

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo vowed to certify as urgent the bill that seeks to strengthen the nation's ship registry to make it globally competitive and reverse the steady decline of the number of Philippine-flagged ships plying overseas if she is elected president.

At the Zoom meeting with members of the Filipino Shipowners' Association (FSA) on Monday, March 7, Robredo said that the ship registry bill will be her top priority."Dapat i-certify iyan as urgent. From day one, that will be on top of my priority. This is unlocking the knots in the economy; it would unlock a lot of doors," Robredo said.

In the 1980s, over 600 ships flew the Philippine flag but this number continues to plummet. The figure is now down to 113 ships, according to reports.

Robredo said that giving top priority to the strengthening of the country's ship registry is part of her overall economic program to make the maritime sector the core industry of her administration.

"The maritime industry is key in the country's overall resilience, so empowering and strengthening the sector should be a national imperative.

Marami na akong public statements about that na gawin ang maritime industry as the core industry na talagang makakatulong sa ekonomya ng ating bansa."

She said based on her consultation with industry stakeholders and economists, the maritime industry offers the most number of employment opportunities for her "Hanapbuhay Para sa Lahat" program.

"The industry is a wellspring ng maraming opportunities na maaaring manganak na hindi lang nabibigyan ng chance. Even outside the maritime industry would benefit, kaya kailangan lang tulungan."

Robredo cited the Filipino sea-based workers who remitted a total of $6.54 billion last year, which she estimated to be at about 6 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, however, reported that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) total remittances of $33.20 billion in 2020 was only about 9.66 percent of GDP.

Her goal, she said, is to double the industry's contribution to the economy from 6 percent to 12 percent of the GDP. "How do we reach this goal? We have to modernize our ports to make our infrastructure more integrated. This serves a purpose that permeates beyond the maritime sector — a stronger national link through an integrated intermodal national logistics system that allows trade to grow at the community level which feeds to our strategy of looping the grassroots into the economic ecosystem."

The vice president said that by boosting the industry, the country can maximize its archipelagic nature, create employment lower logistics costs, bring goods and services faster to different islands.

Going back to the proposal to strengthen the nation's ship registry. She said it would also address the acute shortage of cadetship berths.

"Ang daming ga-graduate sana sa mga maritime schools pero walang masampahan na barko (but there's lack of ship for onboard training)," she lamented.

Former Angkla representative Jesulito Manalo, who was also at the forum, informed the vice president and FSA members that the ship registry bill he authored reached third reading at the 17th Congress, but it failed to move after the loss of his seat in the 18th Congress.

The bill offers a tonnage tax rate of as low as $0.08 per ton to encourage shipowners, ship managers and ship operators to register their ships in the Philippines and assure seafarers steady jobs since they are required to be fully manned by Filipinos.

At the beginning of the forum, Robredo exuded optimism as she shared her plans. Her vision, she said, "a cargo ship sailing around the world carrying the Philippine flag. There's no reason that this could not be done. We are one of the best shipbuilders of the world; we have a maritime culture with seawater is running in our veins."