BRUSSELS — "Failure is not an option," House Speaker Martin Romualdez said, assuring Filipino seafarers that the Philippine government will be able to help them qualify for the standards of the European Maritime Safety Agency and not lose their source of income.

In an interview on Tuesday evening (early Monday morning in Manila), Romualdez asserted that the Marcos administration would strictly comply with the international standards in three months to help Filipino seafarers get back to their livelihoods.

Protecting the welfare of Filipino seafarers, he said, is a priority for President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

"There's a three-month period in which we have to actually comply. Kung hindi, hindi marerecognize yung mga… kumbaga yung mga graduate certificates natin, eh di mawawala yung bisa. It's such an unfortunate condition. We all know that Filipino seafarers are the best," said Romualdez in a press conference at a hotel here.

The House chief believes there is a "sense of urgency" in tackling legislation in the hope of improving the educational system for the maritime industry.

"There are always a number of legislation always seeking the best for the welfare of our seafarers," he said.

Marcos sat down with International Maritime Employers' Council Chief Executive Officer Francisco Gargiulo and several business executives and leaders of European shipping companies and shipowners associations in a meeting on Monday.

Here, the President assured the EU's transport officials that the Philippines is actively working to address certification issues concerning Filipino seafarers to make them compliant with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention.

However, he also admitted that there are other nations that have a more liberal view when it comes to deploying seafarers, making the Philippines "less competitive."

"We've lost our competitive edge to countries like India, who doubled up, so we've lost that market share. Our conditions are more stringent," he said.

Earlier this week, the President ordered the creation of an advisory board to address deficiencies identified by the EU in the Philippine seafarers' education, training and certification system.

The European Union has flagged the Philippines for deficiencies in local seafarer training and education.

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