Maritime Week kicks off tomorrow

CEBU, Philippines - Blowing of horns, dressing up of ships and motorcade will open the celebration of the National Maritime Week tomorrow.

The week-long celebration has a theme; Piracy: Orchestrating the Response.

Fayette Rinen of the Philippine Information Agency said the celebration will open with a mass which will be attended by stakeholders in the industry such as the Maritime Industry Authority, Cebu Ports Authority and the Philippine Ports Authority.

A press conference will follow after the mass and the motorcade.

Pres. Benigno Aquino III has been invited to open the celebration in Manila together with Department of Transportation and Communications Sec. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

Among the talking points for discussion are the anti-piracy campaigns, education and training of seafarers and government measures as a response to piracy.

Thirty percent of the world’s crew is said to be Filipinos or reportedly 340,000 to 380,000 Filipino seafarers who form part of our overseas Filipino workers that contribute largely to our national economy through their dollar remittances.

The week-long celebration in Cebu include a contest on ‘Seafarers Got Talent,’ ‘Cadet of the Year,’ sports tournament, quiz bowl among marine students, seminars and a port clean up.  MARINA will act as the lead agency in the celebration.

Early this month, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-7 held a consultation meeting in Cebu with the Visayas-Mindanao Maritime Stakeholders on the requirements in the 2006 Maritime Labor Convention, which aimed at setting standards for the better protection of seafarers and fair and just global competition in the maritime sector.    - (THE FREEMAN)