The main author of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers assured maritime higher education institutions (MHEIs) that the contested provision in the proposed law guarantees other options aside from having to buy training ships, which they find contentious.

“It is clear in the provision that buying training ships is only an option. MHEIs can buy training ships, simulators, or similar technologies or directly enter into agreements with local or international shipping companies, shipowners, or manning agencies regarding their students’ or cadets’ shipboard training programs. They just have to understand what is written in that provision,” said Kabayan Partylist Rep. Ron Salo, the leading proponent of the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers, during his guest appearance on DAILY TRIBUNE’s digital show Usapang OFW.

Salo clarified that Chapter XVIII, Section 84 of the Magna Carta, was a law crafted in 1953; it did not come out of the blue but was an existing requirement.

“Under that 1953 law, for MHEIs to be accredited, they should have a training ship. It was not deleted or amended. Yet they have been accredited to operate since then, meaning that everyone has been non-compliant,” said Salo, adding that only three MHEIs have training ships to date.

73 MHEIs currently operate in the country and are not compliant with the law that Salo pertains to.

The lawmaker was referring to Republic Act 844, or an Act Requiring Nautical or Maritime Schools to Have At Least One Training Ship Each, enacted on 7 May 1953.

Moreover, Salo said that based on the data given to him by the Commission on Higher Education, MHEIs currently operating in the country produce only 33 percent of graduates, while only three MHEIs with international shipping company counterparts produce 100 percent graduates: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific and PMI Colleges.