Solon pleads for marine deck exams

Rep. John Orola Jr. of the lone district of Bacolod City appealed yesterday to President Arroyo to immediately fill up vacancies in the Board of Examiners for Marine Deck Officers of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to enable the Board to hold the scheduled February examinations for marine deck officers.

Orola took up the cudgels for Filipino seafarers who voiced their fears of losing their jobs to other nationalities because of the inability of the PRC to hold scheduled examinations for upgrading their licenses, in conformity with the regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The PRC said it postponed the exams indefinitely because the Board could not constitute its full complement of examiners due to the resignations of some of its members.