RP makes it into the White List
By SONIA INSERTO
THE long wait is finally over.
After three years of off-and-on negotiations and a host
of controversial issues raised against maritime administration in the Philippines,
the country made it into the International Maritime Organization’s White
List or the registry of 72 countries compliant with the provisions of the
Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping as amended in 1995.Labor
Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma was the first to receive news of the Philippines’
inclusion in the White List as reported by the Philippine delegation attending
the 73rd Session of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in London on
December 4, 2000, a day prior to the official adoption of the said circular.
The panel of competent persons that evaluated the Philippine
reports came from Australia, Norway, USA, Japan and Singapore.
When the Philippines submitted its report in July 1998,
the panel raised certain issues ranging from the multifarious agencies
claiming sole administration of maritime affairs to the qualifications
of various training institutes and maritime schools in providing skills
and academic competence to seafarers. However, these problems were addressed
before the deadline.
In October 2000, the panel confirmed through the Maritime
Training Council that they were ready to submit their recommendation of
the Philippines to the IMO Secretary General, William O’Neil.
O’Neil, according to Laguesma, has recognized the Philippines
as being the only country that showed improvements in its effort to fully
comply with the requirements of the STCW Convention.
THE 72 COUNTRIES THAT
MADE THE WHITE LIST
Argentina
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
Chile
China
Columbia
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Denmark
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Honduras
Iceland |
India
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kiribati
Liberia
Latvia
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mexico
Morocco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Pakistan
Panama
Peru
Philippines |
Poland
Portugal
Republic of Korea
Romania
Russian Federation
Samoa
Singapore
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Thailand
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Tuvalu
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Vanuatu,
Venezuela
Vietnam
Hong Kong |
|
For the countries which failed to make it into the list,
Laguesma said were given a grace period to submit their compliance reports.
The inclusion of the Philippines to the White List guarantees
Filipino seafarers’ continuous deployability in any vessel plying international
routes. There are an estimated 180,000 seafarers onboard various international
ships with another 150,000 waiting to be employed.
According to Carlos Salinas, president of Filipino Shipowners
Association, the inclusion of the country to the While List is a recognition
by the IMO of the quality of training and improved credibility of Filipino
seafarers in the global shipping arena.
Salinas said this is an opportune time for the country
to maintain a continuing program of improvement. “This will put the country
at par, if not better, with other countries,” he said, noting the competition
now being posed by China.
He said that the world’s most populous country poses a
continuing threat to the Philippines’ position as the leading supplier
of competent seafarers to the world’s shipping fleet.
On the other hand, maritime sector leader Vince Aldanese
pointed out that the continuous deployability would further boost the status
of the Philippine economy through the seafarers’ foreign exchange remittances.
“This is just the start of more collaborative effort of
the government and private sectors,” Laguesma noted, adding that more work
should be done. The challenge here, he emphasized, is the act of “putting
heart and mind together.”
He stressed that while he is pleased with the effort of
the member agencies of MTC, he reminded these agencies that the greater
task is now in maintaining the standards in training and certification,
which he believes is the more difficult part of the country’s compliance
to the Convention.
In this regard, he encourages the maritime schools and
training centers to constantly check and police themselves that their quality
assurance systems are at work.
“As we have been included in the list, so can we be delisted
once an evaluation or audit shows that we have slipped and ceased to comply,”
he added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
recently announced that by this year, it will shorten the processing time
for seamen’s contracts as part of the agency’s Continuous Service Improvement
(CSI) project. From the original eight-hour processing, it has been shortened
to only three hours while five days for the issuance of Artist Record Book
(ARBs).
This, according to the labor secretary, is his department's
answer to the demands of globalization at the height of economic crisis
presently besetting the country.
It will be recalled that after the Philippines submitted
reports needed for inclusion in the White List, O'Neil even personally
raised doubts about our competency and ability to make it into the list.
Among other things, the IMO chief noted the "conflicting" laws, executive
orders, presidential decrees, and other legislations on the maritime industry.
In a letter he sent to Laguesma, he also expressed concern
about the different agencies claiming to have sole mandate and authority
over the maritime affairs of the country.
Laguesma formed an inter-agency team to address the concern
of O'Neil. But more than satisfying the questions raised by the IMO head,
the DOLE chief was hell bent on saving the hundreds of thousands of Filipino
seafarers whose lives depend on international shipping.
"Aside from providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, the
seafaring industry is a major contributor to the country's foreign exchange,
remitting billions of dollars each year," he told Tinig ng Marino then.
Thus, with a team headed by Philippine Overseas Employment
Administration Director Lorna Fajardo, the DOLE studied the problem thoroughly
and came up with proposals.
When the Maritime Training Council was designated as the
lead agency of a multi-agency group, it was Fajardo who remained as Laguesma's
point (wo)man.
However, Fajardo credits the inclusion of the Philippines
into the White List to the cooperation of other agencies in the overall
effort to qualify for STCW 95. She cited the crucial role Maritime Industry
Authority head Atty. Oscar Sevilla in the Tokyo meeting with the IMO panel.
Likewise, improvements in the implementation of regulations by the Commission
on Higher Education for maritime schools other institutions also contributed
to the overall effort. The Professional Regulations Commission, under Commissioner
Hermogenes Pobre, also came up with dramatic improvements in its conduct
of tests.
"Overall, it was a team effort," Laguesma said, "and I
hope this team effort will likewise be the wellspring of a continuing
effort to maintain the level of training and certification of Filipino
seafarers for us to maintain our position in the shipping world." |
