Ask for the official nomination forms from the UFS, Room 303 Plaza Towers Building, L. Guerrero St., Ermita, Manila. For inquiries call phone nos. 5260668/ 5244888 and 5255806 or fax 5242336.

A WEB page enabling workers to gain rapid access to essential information about their health and safety rights and responsibilities has been set up by the Health and Safety Executive.

The "workers’ webpage" http://www.hse.gov.uk/ workers
- covers the roles and responsibilities of employers and employees, as well as issues such as ‘whistle-blowing’ and reporting accidents.

ON THE EVE  of the second  anniversary  of  9/11, representatives from the 21 - member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC), including the Philippines, met in Manila to map out plans for an international effort to combat terrorism.

“The threat of terrorism looms large on the world’s supply chain,” Rear Admiral Efthimios E. Mitropolous, incoming secretary general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), stressed during the opening of the two-day APEC High-Level Meeting on Maritime Security Cooperation.

The supply chain, which Mitropolous referred to, involves thousands of ships that move billions of dollars worth of goods and services everyday in international waters. Aside from the vessels that crisscross the oceans, its cargoes and crew are at the receiving end of terrorism, which now knows no boundaries or nationalities. It strikes at will, with utter disregard to the number of lives and amount of properties that will be lost. 

Underscoring the need to prevent and suppress attacks on ships and port facilities, which may adversely affect the supply chain and dislocate world trade and commerce, Mitropolous reminded all delegates and participants to the conference that terrorism knows no bound in brutality. “The bombing in Bali, Indonesia, carried out on October 2, 2002, reminds us of this brutality,” he said. 

THE TERRORIST THREAT

One year after the attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon, APEC met in Los Cabos, Mexico, and came up with the strongest statement ever condemning terrorism. The Oct. 26, 2002, meeting also elicited a burning anger against terrorism and an unwavering resolve to fight it by putting in place measures broadly stated in the earlier Shanghai Counter-Terrorism Statement.

APEC declared: “Terrorism is a direct challenge to our goals of free, open and prosperous economies and an affront to the fundamental values our members share. We are united in our determination to end the threat that terrorism poses to our shared goals and committed to accelerate our progress towards the anti-terror goals and programs set forth in Shanghai."

In Shanghai, APEC members signed and ratified the International UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. As a result, sub-regional and regional counter-terrorism mechanisms were set up on a global scale and security in major ports and airports worldwide was tightened. The security program was called STAR or Securing Trade in the APEC Region. Among the measures adopted were: 

• Cargo protection,
• Ship protection in international voyages,
• Aviation security, and
• Protection of people in transit.

“The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) is our contribution to this worldwide effort,” UFS president Nelson P. Ramirez, one of the staunch supporters of the passage of AMLA in the Philippines, said.

Specifically, the Los Cabos Conference with amendments to the Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Convention and set July 1, 2004, as full compliance of seafarers, shipping companies, ports, and other maritime related entities.

Among the amendments were:

1. Chapter V now incorporated an Automated Identification System for seafarers and implementation accelerated to December 2002.
2. Chapter XI-1 mandates a Ship Identification Number and a continuous synopis record.
3. Chapter XI-2 calls for enhanced maritime security and strict compliance to the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code. The key elements in the implementation of ISPS are: a) Security Levels; b) Ship and Port Facility Security Assessments; c) Ship and Port Facility Security Plans; d) Security Officers; and e) Ship Security Alert System.

COUNTERVAILING 
MEASURES

Inter-regional and intra-regional trade in the APEC region is mainly carried out by sea. In particular, East Asian seas, particularly the strategic straits of Southeast Asia, are the convergence of a large part of the world’s shipping traffic. Sea transport of goods and passengers is essential in the archipelagoes of Japan, Philippines and Indonesia. It is estimated that the value of trade in the East Asian seas excel $1 trillion a year and it required over half the shipping capacity of the world to move it.

“This means that there is a high concentration of ships, crew, cargo and passengers in our region,” Ramirez, a delegate to the APEC Manila conference noted.

During the conference, presentations were made by various countries in the region about measures undertaken since the Los Cabos Conference. In part, measures were undertaken to comply with the amendments to the SOLAS Convention and the initiative made by IMO for capacity building to face the growing threat of terrorism.

Andrew Tongue of the Department of Transport and Regional Services of Australia outlined his country’s compliance with ISPS, particularly in aggressively enforcing port security measures through “trust, but verify” acts of international partners like the US. 

Young Sun Lee, technical advisor of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea, said that security equipment have been installed and security guard arrangements have made in their major ports. “Likewise, patrol and access control of personnel are being implemented 24 hours a day, complemented by a closed circuit television at 400 meter intervals,” he said. 

Korea, a major shipbuilding country, has also installed 2.7-meter high fences in its major ports, with a container x-ray to check containers entering ports and a system of monitoring container movements,” Lee said.

In the area of information dissemination, Korea has also conducted ISPS seminars in Seoul and Busan urging shipping companies to positively adopt amendments to SOLAS and ISPS Code. “Our government will also draft  National Regulations to accommodate the amendments to SOLAS and ISPS,” he said.

Japan has the most comprehensive maritime security plan in the region. Yukei Shimazaki, deputy director of the Japan Coast Guard, said his agency has created an Anti/Counter-Terrorism unit complete with aerial and seaborne equipment – 46 helicopters, 29 airplanes, 237 patrol craft, 87 rescue craft, and 13 patrol vessels with helicopter onboard – that is ready to face any crime, including terrorist attack.
Singapore, the shipping hub of East Asia, is now putting together mechanisms for compliance to amended SOLAS and ISPS Code.

Cdr. Luis Tuazon of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) made the presentation for the Philippines. “We have set up a monitoring system to beef up security and deter terrorism, knowing that ships are prime terrorist targets,” he said. 

Likewise, Tuazon said his agency is coordinating with the Master and Mates Association of the Philippines, the Marine Engineer Officers Association of the Philippines, and other private groups for data gathering purposes vis-à-vis possible target vessels. 

“Ties with the Japan Coast Guard had also been established for joint patrol exercises – search and rescue and neutralizing piracy. For its part, the Philippine Port Authority has doubled efforts in providing security to cargoes, port equipment, structure, facilities, personnel and documents, and in regulating the movement of people within the port,” he explained.

Ramirez, however, downplayed the presentation of Tuazon. “These are only in paper and nothing concrete has been achieved to comply with the ISPS Code,” he noted.

ONLY IN THE PHILIPPINES

According to Ramirez, Philippine maritime authorities rate high in giving lip service to SOLAS and the ISPS Code. “Nothing new, everything’s the same,” he retorted.
While most countries, he said, are putting up various security systems to protect cargo, crew and people, the Philippines is busy designing training programs for maritime security officers. Obviously, he added, this is a measure in the direction of money. 

“Nakakahiya tayo, we rant about this and we paint good pictures, but in reality puro window dressing lang,” the UFS president lamented.

He cited the accreditation of 25 training centers that will offer security training. “What’s this? Wala pa ngang security equipment, nagti-train na sila! Ano, magkano kaya ang areglo dito. Sa ibang bansa, wala ito! Kung meron man, libre ang training,” he stressed.

He called the attention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the cabal of maritime authorities and training centers “which further bleed our seafarers dry” instead of helping the Philippines put up a genuine security infrastructure to protect our ships, crew, cargo, and ports.

The recent APEC meeting, which was conducted in Manila, Ramirez said, should serve as a wake-up call for our maritime officials.

“Habang ang ibang bansa naglalagay ng mga bakod, security camera, communications equipment at stand-by task force to fight terrorism, dito naman ang nag-aaway-away ay ang mga training centers,” he said. “Dinagdagan lang ng isang security guard ang puerto, ISPS compliant na daw,” he sarcastically said.

Ramirez, a marine engineer by profession, said that maritime officials must absorb what they have learned in the APEC meeting. “Ang hirap, baka puro salita lang,” he said.

He recognized the difficulty of the country in putting up expensive security systems. “But IMO chief Rear Admiral Mitropolous said that the cost of putting up security is small compared to the danger of not having one,” Ramirez said.

Experts say that at least US$2 billion is needed to put up a maritime security system that will secure the supply chain. This involves the crew, the cargo and the ship and covers the source of cargo, its final destination and its route.

“The cost of security ships worldwide may be huge, but losses that may be incurred without ISPS may be more,” Ramirez say, citing losses amounting to over US$60 billion over the past several years to terrorism and piracy attacks.

Ramirez also noted that security programs presented by various countries, in consonance with the ISPS Code fully considered individual ships. “In the supply chain, the situation of a VLCC and that of a tugboat are different. Thus, different security approaches must likewise be undertaken,” he said. “Pero sa ating parang palengke, halu-halo.”

For two days, representatives from 21-member countries of APEC were briefed on the maritime situation all over the world. They may have yet to fully meet the ISPS Code requirements and comply with the amended SOLAS, but they are one in renewing their condemnation of terrorism and declaring an all-out war against it. Also, they have found cause to unite against this worldwide menace that threatens nations and global peace.

“Sana, sa Pilipinas, hindi lang puro dada at delihensiya. Kailangan ng pagkilos at tunay na paggawa tungo sa seguridad ng mga barko, marino, at pasahero,” Ramirez said.

BROADER HEALTHCARE:
OWWA-Medicare Fund transfer to widen medical and health service delivery to OFWs and their families

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