Marino Partylist Rep. Sandro Gonzalez has urged the Maritime Industry Authority to slash seafarers' training fees.
"The reduction in training fees is part of Marina's mandate and it is a big help for our seamen who spend a lot of money on their face-to-face training here in the Philippines," Gonzalez said during the #MARINOUpdates Facebook Live with Samuel Batalla, executive director and officer-in-charge of the Marina STCW Office, on 25 October.

Gonzalez made the request as Batalla revealed Marina's plan to encourage maritime institutions and training centers to offer blended learning to seamen to address their complaint that training eats up their family time when their contract ends and take a vacation.

Batalla also clarified in the online talk show that only seafarers aspiring to become ship officers are required to take up the Management Level Course for Deck and Engine Officers.

"Existing management level officers are not required to take the MLC, particularly chief mates, master mariners, second engineer, and chief engineer. They already took that," he said.

"MLC is only mandatory to seafarers who wish to be issued with a Certificate of Competency or CoC as management level officers, or simply those who want to be promoted as chief mate, master mariners, second engineers and chief engineers," Batalla added.

The manning community has raised concern over Marina's revival of the MLC saying it could disrupt the deployment of seafarers if they undergo almost two months of MLC training for deck officers and over two months for engine officers.

SID delays

Meanwhile, Marina Deputy Administrator for Planning Sonia Malaluan asked for patience and understanding from seafarers encountering delays in getting their Seafarer Identity Document.

"There is indeed a queue to apply for SID. It's due to budgetary constraints, second, production takes longer due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine," Malaluan said.

Malaluan added that even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Marina was already experiencing the lack of chips used in the production of SID due to the international supply chain disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.