Part of the Manila North Harbor (INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday said on Monday that she would want to turn the Philippines into a maritime power by boosting the shipping industry.
“It has become evident, especially over the past couple of years, the maritime industry is really key to the country’s overall economic resilience,” Robredo said during an online session with the Filipino Shipowners’ Association (FSA).
“Empowering and strengthening should be a national imperative. I have been very public about my desire to really focus on the maritime industry as the core industry, not just for the maritime sector but for the recognition that will help the economy of the entire country,” she added, speaking partly in Filipino.
Robredo set a goal of doubling the maritime sector’s size from 6% to 12% of the economy.
“How can we reach this goal? We need to modernize and renovate our ports and harbors to make our infrastructure more integrated,” she said.
“This serves a purpose that permeates beyond the maritime sector – a stronger national link through an integrated intermodal national logistics system allows trade to grow at the community level, which feeds into our strategy of looping the grassroots into the economic ecosystem,” she added.
Robredo also discussed plans to add a course on maritime industry to the senior high school curriculum, increasing the ratio of officers to ratings among Filipino seafarers, encouraging ships to register as Philippine-flagged vessels, and making the country a logistics hub.
She acknowledged inefficiencies in the regulatory framework, particularly on the matter of ship registration,. She said she would fix this through genuine stakeholder engagement, a stock-taking process, and a proper road map to introduce new policies.
“With such a Philippine-flagged fleet, we can maximize our waters: creating employment, lowering the cost of logistics, bringing goods and services faster and farther into our islands. We will become the maritime power we should be,” Robredo said.
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