THE Maritime Industry Authority and the Commission on Higher Education agreed to have joint supervision over the quality of education programs for future ship officers. This would bolster the global competitiveness of Filipino sailors in the years ahead.
The number of Philippine-educated sailors and other staff deployed on foreign ocean-going vessels, including those on cruise ships and floating casinos, is likely to surpass the 500,000-mark for the first time this year. As the global economy continues to grow, the enlistment of our sailors is expected to increase along with international ship traffic. With this, the cash sent home by overseas Filipino sailors via banks is projected to top the $6-billion mark this year, good for the economy.
The two regulatory bodies will superintend the quality of the Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and the Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering programs being supplied by maritime schools. Graduates of the two marine education programs, once licensed and certified, become ship officers – masters, chief mates, officers-in-charge of a navigational watch, chief engineers, second engineers and officers-in-charge of engineering watch.
We have to constantly upgrade the quality of the two education programs if we are to keep our competitive edge in the deployment of merchant ship officers to global labor markets.
This is also about ensuring that our domestic ships here at home are run by the best sailors that live up to the highest operating and safety standards. We are after all an archipelago that relies heavily on efficient and safe inter-island shipping to move people and goods.
Looking at the bigger picture, we hope Congress would succeed to pass the proposed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers to provide better protection of the rights and welfare of Filipino sea-based workers. It would guarantee their right to humane working conditions and just compensation.
Filipino seafarers have been given inadequate attention in our society. Despite incidents of abduction, unjust compensation and on-board accidents that have been reported, no legislation has been passed to protect and uphold their rights. Most of the policies and programs catering to the needs of migrant workers are designed for land-based workers
Filipino maritime workers are important human resources of our country. We have to understand that the seafaring profession has unique demands and conditions, thus, we must guarantee that they will be given equal attention and protection by our government.
