Marcos Jr. orders creation of advisory body to address seafarers’ woes

ON A MISSION President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., shown here with his wife, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, is participating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-European Union Commemorative Summit in Brussels, Belgium, from Dec. 12 to 14. —MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO

BRUSSELS —President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday ordered the creation of an advisory board to avert possible job losses of Filipino seafarers after the European Union flagged the Philippines for deficiencies in local seafarer training and education.

The President issued the directive during his meeting with international maritime employers and various shipowners here.

The advisory council, composed of government agencies, international shipowners and other stakeholders, will also address concerns of about 600,000 Filipino seafarers worldwide.

During the meeting, the President assured the European Union’s transport officials that the Philippine government was working hard to address certification issues concerning Filipino seafarers to make them compliant with the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention.

“Our seafarers are of great importance to the Philippines in many, many ways. Although we recognize that in the last many years, the Philippines has done very well in terms of being the leading seafarers around the world, however, with the changing situation after the pandemic, with the changing situation especially when we talk about supply line problems, all of these areas have to be revisited,” Marcos told shipowners and stakeholders during the meeting.

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