Filipino marine officers not in danger of losing licenses – Marina

Filipino marine officers not in danger of losing licenses – Marina
Carmela I. Huelar November 1, 2022 https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/11/01/news/national/filipino-marine-off...

THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) on Monday said there was no imminent danger that Filipino marine officers on board EU ships will lose their Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) licenses while the European Commission reviews the Philippines' comprehensive response and strategic action plan to address grievances on the implementation of the STCW Convention for seafarers.

The government, through Marina, submitted its Final Report of Compliance to the EC in March 2022.

It was the result of close collaboration among government agencies and maritime industry stakeholders representing maritime education and training, ship management and manning, and seafarers.

The Committee on Safe Seas and the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (COSS) is the EC body responsible for submitting its recommendation to the EC, which will then decide on the status of the country's compliance with the Convention.

A decision is unlikely to be released in 2022.

"The deliberation on the Philippine response by the COSS, may not happen until spring of 2023 or about March to May 2023," Samuel Batalla, officer in charge of Marina's STCW Office, said during the hearing conducted by the House of Representatives Committee on Migrant Workers on Oct. 27, 2022.

The agency acknowledged the challenges that prevented it from addressing the recurring findings of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) on the country's compliance with the 1978 STCW Convention.

Batalla said that the EC has yet to decide whether or not to withdraw recognition of Philippine-issued STCW certificates.

He added that there would be no immediate significant loss of jobs even if the EC decided to not recognize the Certificates of Competency (COCs) of Filipino officers.

"Filipino certificates are still being recognized on EU-flagged ships," Batalla said.

However, they said there would be no hiring of Filipino officers upon the release of the EC decision to derecognize the CoCs of Filipino officers.

"There are 49,461 Filipino marine officers as of July 2022, according to EMSA. These Filipino officers may continue to work on EU-flagged ships until the expiration of their current STCW certificates," Batalla said.

He attributed the inconsistency in addressing the EMSA findings to the quick succession in Marina's leadership.

He said there were at least five officials who called the shots at Marina since 2016 under the Duterte administration alone.

Moreover, he called the attention of the House committee to the lack of permanent personnel of Marina and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to inspect and monitor maritime higher education institutions (MHEIs).

"At the moment, there are 83 maritime schools, 84 training centers, and 32 assessment centers. At Marina, there are only 17 permanent personnel who can serve as lead evaluators to inspect and monitor these maritime institutions."

Batalla proposed that the Marina administrator should be a career official rather than appointed by the President.

"This would ensure consistency and sustained policy implementation until the desired outcomes are met," he said.