A LAWMAKER yesterday urged the Philippine government to be “serious” in attending to the needs of the maritime industry in light of the European Union’s (EU) ruling on the certification of Filipino seafarers.
The Philippines is considered as the maritime capital of the world, said OFW party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino.
“We are the most loved. This is the very reason why we have to be serious. The government must be serious in attending to the needs of our maritime industry,” she told ANC’s “Headstart”.
She vowed to come up with solutions in the lower house for the industry.
“Those manning agencies are having problems, having a lot of loans. This is the time our government must step in to give like tax liberalizations, to give loans to our manning agencies to be able to come up with training vessels that are needed by our seafarers,” she said.
The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said it would continue to find solutions to further improve the country’s maritime industry.
While the EU has acknowledged the country’s efforts to improve its monitoring, supervision and evaluation for the training and assessment of those seeking to find jobs aboard sea vessels, the Philippines has yet to address at least five deficiencies.
Among these are the inclusion of simulators in maritime schools, on board trainings and the improvement of the issuance and revalidation of certificates and endorsements for seafarers.
As of 2022, there were some 490,00 Filipino seafarers in different parts of the world. (ABS-CBN News)
