Most Senate bets lack maritime knowledge

Most Senate bets lack maritime knowledge
CIH March 9, 2022 https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/03/09/business/maritime/most-senate-bet...

Many of the senatorial candidates have outdated information if not vague ideas on the nation's multibillion-dollar seafaring business that produces what the country regarded as modern-day heroes.

This was made obvious during the recent Senate debate organized by Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) when one of the panelists asked them what bills or amendments to existing laws they would propose to improve the standards in national maritime education and certification.

Dante "Klink" Ang 2nd, chief executive officer of The Manila Times, threw the question.

He premised his question on the impending threat posed by the European Union to ban Filipino seafarers from serving on European ships after the country failed to pass eight audits of maritime schools and training institutions by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) since 2006.

Senate candidate Greco Belgica was the first to reply, indicating that he was not surprised at all to learn that the country might not pass the EMSA audits. He said he had received many complaints from seafarers that they were merely required to undergo many and repeated training under instructors "na hindi man lang nakaapak sa barko, kaya asahan na po natin na hindi tayo papasa" [sa EMSA] (who have never set foot on a ship, so we can't expect to pass the EMSA audits]."

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) has streamlined maritime training in the last two years.

Belgica blamed Marina for the deteriorating quality of maritime education and training. He proposed that maritime education and training should be removed from Marina and transferred to another department "to improve seafarers' education."

Republic Act 10635 centralized Marina's functions related to the enforcement of the STCW Convention notably seafarers' education and training, certification, and assessment.

Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta said that the EMSA issue is a manifestation of a bigger problem with the Department of Education (DepEd).

The three-term member of the House of Representatives said that DepEd repeatedly violated a law related to the production of textbooks. This prompted Ang to explain to the lawmaker that the real issue is between Marina and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and "DepEd has nothing to do with it."

Other Senate candidates — former Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo, Dr. Menguita Padilla and Nur Mahal-Kiram slammed government-run maritime schools for their lack of facilities and proposed the creation of more government maritime schools and importing foreigners as instructors.

However, some maritime stakeholders pointed out that the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) in San Narciso, Zambales is already using state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology in instruction.

Nonetheless, a few candidates showed signs of a better understanding of the problems of the Filipino seafarers. Former Agriculture secretary Manny Piñol pointed to the mushrooming of maritime schools that "some are fly-by-night that resulted in the deterioration of the standards in maritime education."

He stressed the need to improve the inspection and evaluation of existing schools to get rid of substandard maritime programs.

Former senator Jose Victor Ejercito pointed out that despite the EU threat, Filipino seafarers are still "a cut above the rest "at hanggang ngayon, sila pa rin ang (and up to now are the) most sought after by foreign shipping companies."

He admitted the need to "level up maritime education and training so that they can continue to be our modern-day heroes "kahit mahirap ang buhay nila sa dagat (even if their life at sea is difficult)."

It was Astra Pimentel, erstwhile undersecretary for Foreign Affairs that offered the more sensible response to Ang's question.

She explained that the threat to blacklist Filipino seafarers could also be an economic move, an attempt to employ seafarers from Eastern Europe, who are Filipinos' strong competitors. She urged the government not to allow it.

To improve the country's maritime education and training, Pimentel proposed that the government pursue partnerships between schools and foreign shipping companies that would include bringing in training ships to help provide world-class training for Filipino seafarers.

Other candidates that participated in the debate were former senator Gregorio Honasan 2nd, who called for an inventory of all Filipino seafarers; Dr. Jess Arranza, who pushed for stricter requirements for students of maritime programs; and Ding Diaz, who echoed Belgica's position, blaming Marina for seafarers' woes.