Pinoy seamen restive, stage Mendiola rally

Some 1,000 seafarers staged a rally at the Chino Roces Bridge in Mendiola, Manila, yesterday to appeal to President Arroyo to immediately appoint marine deck examiners to avert the specter of losing their jobs to other nationalities.

Bearing placards which read "Madame President, you are our only hope, appoint new deck examiners now, on with February exams," the rallyists sought the intervention of Mrs. Arroyo to correct what they claimed was a "grossly unfair and unjust decision" of the Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC).

Save our Seafarers (SOS), an umbrella organization of overseas seamen and merchant marine officers, voiced their fears of being replaced by other nationalities with the decision of the PRC to reset the board examination for marine deck officers from February to March, reportedly due to the resignation of some members of the Board for Marine Deck Officers.

According to SOS spokesman Arsenio Padilla, the decision of PRC Commissioner Hermogenes Pobre was "grossly unfair and unjust" since the affected seafarers have been jobless for several months now while waiting for the examinations. The exams were initially scheduled for January but were postponed to Feb. 23 to 25 and were again reset for March.

The rallyists said that deck officers seeking to upgrade their licenses requested manning agencies to extend their vacation leaves for four months. If the rescheduling of the exams pushes through, the group said, manning agencies would be hard pressed and would look for other nationalities to fill vacant positions. – Nestor Etolle