EU audit of Phl maritime schools set next month

MANILA, Philippines - The European Commission (EC) will conduct a make-or-break audit of Philippine Maritime Education and Training Institutions (METIs) next month, the results of which will determine if Filipino seamen and officers are to be banned from manning European Union-registered vessels.  

Sources in the local maritime manning industry said that the EC’s Directorate General for Mobility and Transport (DGMOVE) and European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) one-week audit is expected to start on March 18.

The EU was set to impose a ban on the hiring of Filipino seamen for EU-registered vessels in 2011, but the efforts of Malacañang, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Department of Transportation and Communications, and the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) persuaded the Europeans to defer the plan.

President Aquino signed Executive Order No. 75 on April 30, 2012 that transferred to MARINA the task of ensuring the country’s compliance with the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping (STCW) for seafarers.

Before the issuance of EO 75, various government agencies such as CHED, the Professional Regulation Commission, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Philippine Overseas Employment Authority all insisted on having regulatory jurisdiction over the education and training of Filipino seamen, which was questioned by the EC and EU. 

With the issuance of EO 75 as a vital reform and proof of the Philippines’ commitment to implement reforms, the EC-DGMOVE informed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last year that it will not take any final action with regard to deficiencies they found in the country’s maritime education and training institutions until the latter part of the year or early 2013, at which time the DGMOVE will send another audit mission to the Philippines.