CEBU, Philippines - Maritime Industry Authority Administrator Maria Elena Bautista claimed she has the authority to strip the Cebu-based shipping operators of their Certificate of Public Convenience if they join the planned province-wide strike on March 1 in protest of the memorandum circulars she issued raising the shipping standards to the international level.
Bautista said the Marina Board had given her the authority, which Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza has immediately approved.
According to Bautista, five out of the seven members of the Marina Board have voted in favor of the cancellation of the franchises of the shipping operators, who will join the planned holiday.
Bautista, in an interview over radio station dyLA, said that it is very clear in the CPC granted to the shipping operators that they are not allowed to disrupt the public services.
She stressed that the CPC granted by he government to the operators is not a right but a privilege that can be revoked should there be a violation in the provisions.
The Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators earlier threatened to launch protest actions by holding a province-wide strike to protest the circulars issued by Marina pushing higher safety standards for shipping operators.
Among the memorandum circulars opposed by shipping operators include the implementation of protection and indemnity cover, as stated in Republic Act 9295; greater accessibility of life jackets to passengers on inter-island ships; higher qualifications on crew competency; and increase in fines and penalties for those who violate Marina’s rules and regulations in the promotion of safety of life and properties at sea.
These standards have been opposed by the members of VAFCSO because Bautista said, shipping operators are only looking at their profits.
Bautista claimed that the shipping operators have resorted to what she called “malicious disinformation.”
She said that the operators are claiming that the life vest that Marina wanted them to buy is very expensive, which she said it is not true. She said there are good quality life vests that are not really that expensive.
The operators also do not want the qualifications of the crew members to be raised because it would mean they have to pay higher salaries, she said.
“The shipping sector is really not up to international standards,” Bautista said.
Bautista said they have already made preparations in case the strike will push through. She said they have created the “Oplan Dolphin” to address the expected shortage of sea transportation in the Visayas on March 1.
Among the contingency plan is to field the government floating assets to ferry cargoes and passengers who might be affected by it.
Bautista said they will deploy the vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy to critical areas, which is yet to be identified by the Marina-7.
Bautista said she has already ordered regional director Glenn Cabañez to submit the list of the routes that are expected to be affected if the strike pushes through.
VAFCSO claimed to have 60 to 70 percent share of the market of passengers and cargoes in the Visayas and Mindanao route.
Bautista has also asked the public to refrain from traveling on March 1 or make their shipment earlier than the scheduled strike.
Freedom Of Speech
The 32-strong members of the Visayan Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Service Operators (VAFCSO) will not hesitate to express their freedom of speech on their grievances against some of the circulars issued by the Marina, which they dubbed as “punitive.”
“We can only hope that the nationwide strike will not happen but for the sake of discussion, if nothing will happened between now and March 1, then we will not hesitate to express our freedom of speech,” said VAFCSO legal counsel Dexter Viñan in an interview with The Freeman.
Viñan said that Marina’s circulars issued by Bautista were not meant to improve the maritime sector, but merely to punish the said sector.
Viñan said that they hope that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will intervene with their concerns and come up with a win-win solution, so that the nationwide strike their planning to launch in March 1 will no longer push through.
VAFCSO has called for the resignation of Bautista for issuing unreasonable maritime policies.
VAFCSO members include Cokaliong Shipping Lines, Inc., Trans-Asia Shipping Lines, Roble Shipping Inc., Lite Shipping, and Jadestar Shipping, among others.
VAFCSO members have a total of more than 200 vessels combined plying different routes in the country. – with MIitchelle Palaubsanon/NLQ (FREEMAN NEWS)