IN a daring and unprecedented move, the United Filipino Seafarers has declared war on the sources and makers of fake certificates.

"This is a scourge that may cause the death of a very important industry," UFS president Nelson P. Ramirez said during an en-trapment operation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against a suspected source of fake training certificates.
 

The fake certificate allegedly issued by Iloilo Maritime Review Center and General Services. 

In the operation, headed by NBI agent Jeralyn T. Jalagan, Mesalina S. Echauz, 43, of Blk. 4, Lot 2, VAA Homes, BF Las Piñas; Jennifer J. Santiago, 33, of 1718 G. Santiago St., Sta. Cruz, Manila; and Crisanto C. dela Torre, 37, of Block 14, Lot 7, Kaayusan Road, Karangalan Village, Pasig  City,  were arrested at their office in Room 319, FUCB Bldg., 413 Escolta, Manila.

The 'fake certificate' issued to a trainee who did not attend the training.The picture  on the certificate is not the real owner of the certificate.

The operation was conducted on the basis of a complaint filed by Admiral Maritime Training Institute of the Philippines and Pablo Galon, of 1279 James TL Bldg., Quirino Ave., San Dionisio, Parañaque City. Admiral claimed that Echauz, president of Iloilo Maritime Review Center "falsified private documents and used the same for illegal purposes." On the other hand, Galon claimed that he was victimized by Echauz and Santiago by giving him a fake certificate of completion from Admiral Maritime Training Institute.

In the entrapment operation, an NBI agent posed as a training applicant and she paid with marked money amounting to P1,000 which Santiago received. After Santiago received the marked money, the NBI agents pounded on the office and presented a search and arrest warrant.

The NBI agents were able to confiscate 41 pieces of registration forms of Admiral, one Admiral Certificate for "Basic Safety Course with Personal Safety and Social Responsibility" issued to Galon with the names and signatures of Admiral president Ofelia Sajo-Angeles and Admiral training superintendent Darrel S. Sevilla affixed at the lower portion of the certificate,  other documents with markings of Admiral, 10 seaman's books and one Philippine passport. 

Sajo-Angeles and Sevilla denied that they ever issued a cerficate for Galon "and he never enrolled in any of our training courses."

NBI Director Reynaldo G. Wycoco said appropriate cases are now being prepared against Echauz, Santiago and dela Torre. In particular, they will be charged with violation of Articles 171 (estafa through the falsi-fication of private document) and 172 (falsification of private document) of the Revised Penal Code.

Ramirez observed that many seafarers have developed a penchant for paying for certificates because they "simply abhor the time needed to finish the course." However, he said, this reflects on the whole maritime industry and the image of Filipino seafarers abroad will not improve because of this condemnable practice.
The UFS official disclosed that because of the expose, government is already "on guard" against fake certificates. He cited a recent case where the Professional Regu-lations  Commission (PRC) caught a seafarer submitting spurious documents allegedly issued by the Philippine Nautical Training Institute and the Maritime Training Center of the Philippines for advance training in firefighting and basic safety courses.

Lawyer Phason B. Mamalo, chief of the PRC legal division, said that due to the worldwide report on the increasing number of fake certificates, PRC has set up me-chanisms as a safeguard against such fraudulent documents. Thus, the seafarer who submitted the fake documents will be charged accordingly, he added.

Ramirez said the seafarer "bought" the certificates at double the cost of training from a certain maritime consultancy firm and he didn't know that the documents are fake.
"This does not absolve the seafarer from criminal liability once it is proven that he had prior knowledge of the fraud," he said.

Using fraudulent documents is pun-ishable with a fine of not less than P20,000 or imprisonment of not less than one year. "But the sad thing about this is when a seafarer is caught with fake documents, he may be suspended or even lose the opportunity to board his vessel," Ramirez added.

"We cannot allow short-cutting where vultures make a killing. We will go after them in whatever form they may take," he vowed.

Another form of "fake certificate" is the issuance of documents to seafarers who do not attend courses or trainings. He said that in this particular scam, he has fielded some members of UFS to "enroll without attendance" and he has gathered proof that some review centers allow this kind of fraudulent practice. "We will also go after these training and review centers who victimize seafarers," he said.

UFS has always been at the forefront of fighting for seafarer's welfare and has taken the cudgel in fighting for seafarer's protection from all  types of exploitation and abuse.

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