BRUSSELS, Belgium — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said he will do everything that his government can to comply with the European Maritime Safety Agency standards to prevent job losses among more than half a million Filipino seafarers.

"I think that we will be going to do everything that we can. We cannot leave it hanging like this," Marcos told reporters in an interview aboard the presidential plane en route to Brussels on Sunday evening.

The President noted that a mere "document" will not fix the reported deficiencies in local seafarer training and education among Filipino seafarers, saying that the government will boost its efforts to help them pass the international standards.

"This is our last chance, so we have to really get it done. But again, the whole industry is working to make it happen," he said.

"I think we'll be all right. Everybody in the industry is working very hard for us to get that," he added.

Marcos is expected to raise maritime cooperation concerns in his meeting with European Union officials during his three-day trip to participate in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union Commemorative Summit in Belgium until Wednesday, 14 December.

About 50,000 Filipino seafarers working in European vessels are at risk of losing their jobs due to the Philippines' repeated failure to hurdle the EMSA evaluation in the last 16 years.

The Philippine leader earlier ordered a collective effort involving various government bodies to ensure that the country's training initiatives and accreditation scheme for seafarers would pass the standards of the EU.

The Department of Transportation, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Migrant Workers, Department of Foreign Affairs, Commission on Higher Education and the Maritime Industry Authority are working together to actively address the deficiency.

According to a 2021 maritime report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Philippines remains to be the world's top source of maritime crew and officers.