Seafarers and friends of the industry led by United Filipino Seafarers (UFS) will hold a big protest rally Wednesday to dramatize the industry’s disgust on the current sorry state of the seafaring community as perpetuated by the incompetence of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA). UFS president and rally convenor Engr. Nelson P. Ramirez said the protest will call on the attention of MARINA and even Malacanang on the “speedy demise” of the local maritime industry with the policies being implemented by the leadership of MARINA. Ramirez said foremost of these is the move of MARINA to supplant the official SRB document being given to legitimate seafarers with a piece of paper called “SIR Sheet”, which could be an embarrassment to the global seafaring community and to our commitments under the STCW convention. He said MARINA has also inflicted early Lenten sufferings to thousands of seafarers by diminishing their stature as top dollar-earners by forcing them to line up for long hours just to get their CoC or Certificate of Competency. Ramirez said the mere substitution of their SIRB cards with a piece of paper is likewise degrading to their profession. He said the unjustified shortage of the regular SIRB has resulted to the proliferation of fake Seaman’s Book and other certificates that are now being sold to unsuspecting seafarers. He said the protest rally would also highlight MARINA’s lack of foresight to resuscitate the dying local shipping industry and the agency’s lack of commitment on maritime safety. “Dahil sa unang tatlong buwan pa lang ni Dr. Max Mejia ay nagkaroon na kaagad ng dalawang major maritime disaster at nagkaroon na naman ng banggaaan ngayong bago sa Cavite. Idagdag pa ang promotion ng kapatid ni Atty. Bañas na ginawang head ng maritime safety na wala namang alam sa barko dahil driver lang dati ,” Ramirez pointed out. The UFS president said MARINA’s weak of leadership has compromised the livelihood of at least 80,000 seafarers currently serving in EU-flagged vessels with the imminent cancellation of their SCTW certificates as a result of the country’s failure to pass the second audit of EU’s European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) last October. As a direct result of the EMSA failure, education and training certificates issued by the Philippine government to Filipino seafarers would no longer be honored by EU shipowners and regulators. Ramirez said the future looks dimmer should MARINA assume the maritime licensure function from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) pursuant to the new law passed assigning Marina as the single maritime agency. “Ngayon pa lang, tagilid na ang industriya maritima at lalo ng lulubog sapagkat kukunin pa ng MARINA ang licensure examination ng PRC, pati na ang CoC at CoE. Minadali ng MARINA asng pagpatay ng ating industriya,” he said. The ralliers will converge on T.M. Kalaw Street, Manila at around 8 a.m. and will proceed to the MARINA office before 10 a.m. Wednesday – UFS/TNM - See more at: unitedfilipinoseafarers.ph/seafarers-led-by-ufs-to-hold-big-rally-vs-marina/#sthash.ZEEiD4v3.dpuf
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 08:25:45 +0000
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