Budget increase for Maritime Industry Authority’s law enforcement sought
MANILA, Philippines — A senator is proposing to increase the Maritime Industry Authority’s budget for “monitoring and enforcement of maritime laws and regulations” to P80.693 million to give the agency room to comply with international standards.
In a statement on Thursday, Sen. Grace Poe said she is pushing for a P56.7 million increase from the current P20.947 million allocation.
The European Union flagged the Philippines for failing to meet global seafarer standards in the past two decades. Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista, however, said the Philippines passed the audit compliance recently done by the European Maritime Safety Agency.
“We are still accredited but we need to work on this because if not, the employment of 49,461 Filipino marine officers will be in jeopardy and the employment of almost 600,000 certificated Filipino seafarers, including officers, will also be affected,” Poe said during budget deliberations for the Department of Transportation.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros is also seeking to summon the Commission on Higher Education and the Marina to the Senate to explain before Congress their plans to address issues raised by the EU, such as education, training and certification.
The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier this year urged the Marina to address concerns raised by the EU. The union previously gave the agency until March 10 to address deficiencies to prevent a ban.
The UN Conference on Trade and Development listed the Philippines as the world’s top source for seafarers in 2021, with over 700,000 on board domestic and foreign vessels. It further noted that “over a quarter of all global merchant shipping crew members come from the Philippines.”
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