PH pleads case in EU to save seafarers’ jobs

The Department of Transportation and Communications has met with the European Union to plead the government’s case and prevent the banning of Filipino officers from European ships.

The possibility of blacklisting Filipino officers was raised following an audit in October last year by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which reportedly uncovered deficiencies on the part of the Maritime Industry Authority when it came to ensuring compliance with so-called Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW).

A Philippine blacklist would affect the jobs of thousands of Filipino officers serving aboard European vessels.

The European Union ruling on whether the Philippines had complied with international maritime safety standards would be known by the middle of the year, Transportation secretary Joseph Abaya said last week.

Abaya was in Brussels, Belgium, last week to  meet with EU vice president and transport commissioner Siim Kallas to discuss how a blacklist can be avoided.

He said the EMSA report had already been forwarded to the European Commission.

He added that the report would still be presented to the Committee on Safe Seas, the College of Commissioners before the final vote by the European Council, which is comprised of the leaders of each of the EU’s 28 member states.

“The VP of the European Commission Siim Kallas mentioned June as a date [of the decision],” Abaya told the Inquirer. “We were in the EU to convey that a law has been passed on the single maritime agency and other actions undertaken by government to address pending issues since the October audit,” Abaya said.

He said there were remedies in case of a negative ruling from the EU but he did not elaborate.

Abaya noted that there were delays in implementing reforms “all the way down” because of the timing of the audit.

“Since our very first audit it was only President Aquino and the administration who has shown the resolve to issue an EO [executive order] and have a law enacted. Filipino seafarers continue to be the preferred seafarers of the world,” he added.

A negative outcome would prove a blow to the administration and to the credibility of Filipino seafarers, whom Abaya said “continued to be preferred worldwide.”

“We are hoping and praying that the EU sees the resolve and commitment of this administration to comply with the STCW convention and continue to look after the welfare of our seafarers,” Abaya said.