Lawmakers mull seafarers course probe
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MARINA INSPECTOR from the Maritime Industry Authority Regional Office VII observes the work of a crewmember of a domestic ferry in the Port of Cebu. The inspection aims to ensure compliance of domestic vessels in the region with safety regulations, a role of the Marina Enforcement Service headed by OIC-Director Ronaldo P. Bandalaria.
Lawmakers are poised to investigate the reimposition of a controversial seafarers course by the Maritime Industry Authority.
One Filipinos Worldwide Partylist Rep. Marissa Del Mar-Magsino filed on 19 September House Resolution 394 urging appropriate committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the Philippines' compliance with the 1978 Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention as amended, including the taking of the Management Level Course.
Maritime stakeholders will also meet with Senators Raffy Tulfo, Christopher Lawrence Bong Go, Ronald "Bato" de la Rosa, and Imee Marcos to push for a separate Senate inquiry into the MLC issue, according to a source.
Some industry stakeholders oppose the MLC that Marina Administrator Hernani Fabia has revived to keep the Philippines' position in the International Maritime Organization's Whitelist.
The IMO Whitelist includes nations that have displayed compliance and established a plan to fully comply with the STCW Convention.
In 2019, the Philippines sustained its inclusion in the list of parties compliant with the said regulation, based on the report of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee.
The country has recently undergone an independent evaluation, conducted every five years, as one of the Philippines' obligations as a party to the STCW Convention.
"The IE is one of the mechanisms instituted by the IMO to evaluate the Member Party's continuing compliance with the requirements of the STCW Convention," Fabia said in an earlier interview.
"The Philippines underwent independent evaluations and submitted the required report to the (IMO) Secretary-General in February 2013 and another in May 2017. However, both reports were not considered because the former did not contain information on the steps taken by the Philippines to implement the subsequent mandatory amendments to the Convention while the latter was found to be incomplete,"€ Fabia told the Daily Tribune.
Fabia maintained that the MLC should be imposed for the Philippines' continued inclusion in the IMO Whitelist.