The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) denied on Thursday that Filipino seafarers are at risk of losing their employment aboard European Union (EU) ships due to non-compliance with EU maritime rules.
MARINA stated in March that the government has filed a report on its “complete compliance” with the European Commission’s concerns regarding the country’s application of the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention for Seafarers 1978.
The report includes a response as well as a strategic action plan to resolve the complaints.
“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,” read the statement from MARINA.
It stressed that accusations that the Philippines is not complying with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) are “wrong.”
Earlier, Susan Ople, Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), disputed a story that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had “stripped” MARINA of any participation in the training and certification process owing to the country’s inability to pass EMSA exams.
She stated that Marcos asked the different Department of Transportation entities to develop a collaborative implementation plan to meet EMSA’s concerns.
Ople likewise issued a press statement about the matter, as follows:
“The directive of the President was for various agencies led by the DoTr to come up with a joint implementation plan to address the concerns raised by EMSA. The DMW, as well as MARINA, as an attached agency of the DoTr, were included in that directive. The President never ordered MARINA to be removed as an implementing agency nor did I ever say this in any interview. The DMW fully supports the actions being taken by the DoTr and MARINA to ensure compliance with international maritime standards particularly on the education, training and certification of Filipino seafarers. We at the DMW thank the President for his continuing guidance and overwhelming concern for the well-being of all Filipino seafarers.”
