ACCORDING to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, cash remittances from all sea-based overseas Filipino workers in the year 2021 totaled $6.545 billion or approximately P335.42 billion.
Our seafarers greatly contribute to our economy, especially during the pandemic. Thus let’s keep our Filipino seafarers world-class by following international standards.
There is a proposed Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers or Senate Bill No. 2369, where both the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and the Commission on Higher Education will work together to ensure compliance of the country’s maritime education, training, and certification to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), and for the Department of Labor and Employment to ensure the protection of the welfare of Filipino seafarers. We hope this is approved.
The European Union’s (EU) recognition for Filipino seafarers might be revoked if the International Convention on STCW is still not properly implemented in the country’s maritime education, training, and certification systems.
MARINA should save the Filipino seafarer sector due to adverse findings of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) from issues regarding the state of maritime higher education in the country.
Based on the EMSA Outlook for 2020, the Philippines leads non-EU countries with the most seafarer officers working in EU-flagged vessels, with a total of 30,615. It’s possible for the Filipino seafarers to lose their jobs if recognition of Philippine-issued STCW certificates are removed.
The European Union pointed out alleged deficiencies especially in the use of simulators and on-board training when EMSA conducted their audit in the Philippines. Our goal should be to convince the European Commission to continue recognizing the certificates of competence of Filipino seafarers working on European-flagged vessels.
The EMSA first audited the Philippines in 2006, and it was found that there are maritime training institutions in the country that were non-compliant to the STCW. The same audit findings were reflected in EMSA assessments in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017.
If we cannot comply or if we receive a negative assessment, MARINA should answer to the thousands of our seafarers who are at risk of losing their jobs. We hope it does not come to that scenario.
