BY DANIE MAE FAJARDO-DELA CRUZ
MANILA – Roughly 50,000 jobs of Filipino masters and officers aboard European vessels have been saved by the decision of the European Commission (EC) to continue recognizing certificates for seafarers issued by the Philippines.
“A crisis of monumental proportions has been averted,” said Secretary Susan Ople of the Departmen t of Migrant Workers (DMW).
She also said EC recognizes the efforts of the Philippine government to comply with the requirements under the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) for seafarers.
Ople was in Geneva, Switzerland recently. She headed the Philippine delegation to the 21st Session of the United Nations Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
She said, “The President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) has been consistent and relentless in taking up the cudgels for our Filipino seafarers.”
Last December 2022, President Marcos met with the European shipowners in Brussels which led to the creation of the International Advisory Committee on Global Maritime Affairs (IACGMA) that now offers technical advice to the Department of Migrant Workers on seafarers’ concerns.
He also met with EU President Ursula von der Leyen in the margins of the EU-ASEAN Summit to discuss technical cooperation to improve the education, training and certification system for Filipino seafarers.
The President also issued several directives to the DMW, Department of Transportation, Maritime Industry Authority and Commission on Higher Education CHED on STCW compliance.
“We look forward to the start of technical cooperation between the Philippines and EC in professionalizing and further improving the skills of Filipino seafarers,” said Ople./PN
