MANILA, Philippines — Now that the jobs of over 50,000 Filipino masters and officers serving on European vessels are in the clear, the Philippines vowed to improve skills training and education program for its seafarers.
The European Commission announced on Friday that it will still recognize Filipino seafarers’ certificates. It said that the Philippines “made serious efforts to comply with the requirements.”
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Changes include improvements in monitoring as well as the supervision and evaluation of the seafarers’ training and assessment modules.
“We look forward to the start of technical cooperation between the Philippines and EC in professionalizing and further improving the skills of Filipino seafarers,” Migrant Workers Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said in a statement on Saturday.
50,000 jobs no longer at risk
The commission warned Manila in December 2021 that it would no longer recognize seafarers’ certification unless the country improves its programs for seafarers, starting with its compliance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) convention.
In February last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs called on the Maritime Industry Authority to start looking into the deficiencies identified by the EU from 2006. The EU then gave MARINA until March 10 to fix the 23 grievances the Philippines had after an audit by the European Maritime Safety Agency.
While the number is only a fraction of the over 600,000-strong Filipino seafarers deployed around the world, the Philippines is the world’s top source of seafarers and being banned from EU vessels could have limited opportunities for Filipinos.
‘Crisis averted’
“We appreciate the constructive cooperation with the Philippine authorities and welcome their efforts to improve the system for training and certifying seafarers,” European Adina-Ioana V?lean said in a statement dated March 31.
“The Philippines can count on our technical support to further improve the implementation and oversight of minimum education, training and certification requirements, as well as living and working conditions."
Marina in November said it also took “corrective actions” after independent evaluators pointed out 15 areas of noncompliance and 63 “observations” of the country's compliance to the STCW.
“The DMW congratulates the leadership and staff of Marina who have worked hard to make this decision a reality,” Ople said.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. also met with EU President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the EU-ASEAN Summit held in Brussels last December to discuss education and training programs for Filipino seafarers, the department said.— with a report from Janvic Mateo / The Philippine STAR newspaper