...the PH IMO seat

Philippines re-elected to IMO

By John Carlo Cahinhinan
Sun Star

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

MANILA (Updated) -- The Philippines once again bagged a seat in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) during its 28th Annual Assembly in London, United Kingdom.

The IMO is the United Nations' specialized agency responsible for ensuring maritime safety, security and protection of marine environment, while its assembly serves as the executive organ of the agency that is responsible for overseeing the work of the entire organization.

Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Maximo Mejia said the country was placed under "Category C," which includes countries with "special interests in maritime transport or navigation."

The Marina administrator explained that a "Category C" nation has special interest in maritime transport or navigation and whose election into the council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world.

Those member states that belonged to the same category include Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey.

Around one-third of the world's seafarers' population comes from the Philippines.

Mejia noted that the country, as a maritime nation, is deeply committed to the goals of the IMO in a very concrete manner, particularly on the benefits from the operation of safe and secure ships on clean oceans.

"We rely on the seas to connect our thousands of islands and on its bounty for our food and our economy," Mejia said.

He also reassured the international maritime community of the Philippines' adherence to the conventions, rules and regulations set by the IMO and other international regulatory bodies.

"Being the source of more than a quarter of all seafarers on-board ships in the international trade is a position of great responsibility, and the Philippines reassures the international maritime community of its commitment to the letter and intent of the STCW Convention and to ensuring that the world’s ships are manned by able, competent, and qualified seafarers," Mejia said. (Sunnex)

 

...the Philippine president

Aquino Takes On World Heavyweight

 

 

By William Pesek, (Bloomberg)

Repost: Manila Bulletin

January 29, 2013

MANILA, Philippines --- Say what you want about President Benigno S. Aquino III, but the Philippines top official has some brass.

First he arrested former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on corruption charges and ousted her Supreme Court chief justice Renato C. Corona. Then he took on the powerful Catholic Church, shepherding free-contraception laws that enraged the Vatican. Next he ran afoul of the local tycoons by backing higher taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. By tackling these issues along with economic reforms, Aquino’s country is on the way toward an investment-grade credit rating.

Now Aquino is taking on an immeasurably bigger target: China. The Philippines will challenge China’s maritime claims before a United Nations-endorsed tribunal. This isn’t going over well in China, and it’s sure to raise tensions as Asia vies for oil, gas, and fisheries resources and a ruling on competing views of history in contested waters.

Much of it really is an argument over China’s controversial “nine-dash” map. First published in the late 1940s, the map extends China’s territorial claims as much as 800 miles from Hainan Island to the equatorial waters off the coast of Borneo. China says the map proves its “indisputable sovereignty” over more than 100 islands, atolls and reefs that form the Paracel and Spratly Islands. The rest of Asia disagrees.

Geopolitical Risk
This dispute represents something more for political scientists, such as Ian Bremmer. As leaders and investors alike try to navigate a world they no longer understand, they are turning to Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group in New York, and his ilk for perspective. And when Bremmer considers the biggest threats in the year ahead, East Asian brinkmanship is near the top of the list.

“At risk here is the decades-long pattern of East Asia as a zone where positive-sum commerce and economics trumps zero-sum geopolitical tension,” Bremmer says.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are right to worry about military conflict. The intensifying spat over a group of tiny islands that Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu is the most dangerous flash point.

Strains rose last year after Japan effectively nationalized the islands. At first, it was just about fishing rights and coast guard vessels squaring off. From April to December, there was a disturbing trend: Tokyo’s Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets 160 times against Chinese aircraft approaching Japanese airspace. That’s the highest number of aerial contacts since Japan began releasing such data and is a significant proxy for escalating tensions.

Markets seem convinced that pragmatism will rule the day. China needs rapid growth to ensure the Communist Party’s grip on power, and Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, aims to revive his nation’s moribund economy. The primacy of commerce, the conventional wisdom says, will prevail. This sunny view ignores how nationalism clouds Asia’s judgment.

China doesn’t deserve all the blame. Japan, too, has a disproportionate number of territorial quarrels – with Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Abe, a nationalist, wants to alter Japan’s pacifist Constitution. But China’s assertiveness and fast-growing military apparatus, which now includes an aircraft carrier, is generating concern throughout the region as well as the US.

Asia has never been closer economically, yet it’s growing further apart diplomatically. It lacks a credible forum where disagreements can be aired, a void that strengthens China’s hand. China has been adept at using its economic leverage over tiny nations such as Cambodia and Laos to block multilateral talks or actions. This forces the US into the uncomfortable position of balancing competing economic and security priorities with a fast-rising rival.

Something Bigger
By resorting to international law, Aquino is taking a positive step. The way to address and resolve the dispute is through diplomacy, not with navy ships or hot tempers that risk turning minor confrontations into something much bigger.

Yet this is only the beginning. Last year marked a turning point as an economically dominant China shifted from charm-offensive mode to political and military assertiveness. This is playing out against the backdrop of the ascension of Xi Jinping as China’s leader, and what that will bring in 2013 and beyond.

Confronted by a daunting list of domestic challenges, Xi will focus on consolidating domestic power. It is farfetched to think he would yield ground on diplomatic issues if it risks an internal backlash.
“If Beijing faces a foreign policy test, Xi will have a strong incentive to demonstrate his foreign-policy mettle and avoid being seen as capitulating to outside interests,” Bremmer says. “That dynamic suggests less chance of compromise from Asia’s emerging strategic powerhouse and heightened risk throughout the region.”

Tests could come from many places – a new Japanese government anxious to flex its muscles; US President Barack Obama’s pivot to Asia; provocations from North Korea that put the onus on China, Pyongyang’s crucial supporter; or nations like the Philippines taking diplomatic frustrations to the UN.

Aquino is the first Asian leader willing to call China’s bluff and risk economic retaliation. How he navigates this showdown will be instructive for others when their turn comes.

...the World's best dive sites

2 Phl dive sites listed as among world's best By Aurea Calica The Philippine Star April 15, 2012

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang expressed gratefulness yesterday that the beauty of the Philippines was being cited in international travel websites, especially as the country is striving to attract more tourists.

Two diving destinations in the Philippines are among the best in the world, according to the travel news website CNNGo of Cable News Network (CNN).

The Tubbataha Reef, located southeast of Palawan, ranked eighth on CNNGo’s list of best dive sites in the world.

“Super-size your dive experience at Tubbataha, where everything comes in giant form. The main advantage to diving at Tubbataha is that the water is exceptionally clean, so the marine life lives much longer, making it grow to silly proportions,” the website said.

“Expect kaleidoscopic colors combined with guitar sharks, black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks, gliding blue-spotted lagoon rays, unicorns, boxfish, scorpion fish and more,” it added.

Tubbataha is located 181 kilometers southeast of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan. The reef is made up of two coral atolls divided by an eight-kilometer wide channel. Its diving area has a depth of five to 60 meters.

It is part of the Tubbataha National Marine Park, which was established on Aug. 11, 1988 and was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in December 1993.

Another dive site in the Philippines that made it to CNNGo’s list is The Canyons in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, which ranked 45th. “Schools of spotted and ribbon sweetlips, shiny trevallies and weird-looking batfish make up the scene at this first-rate dive site. There’s also an explosion of coral and plant life including beautiful delicate gorgonian sea fans and hollow barrel sponges; look inside for critters lurking within,” the website described The Canyons.

The Canyons is located northeast of Escarceo Point, some five minutes away by boat from Barangay Sabang in Puerto Galera.

With a depth of up to 30 meters or about 95 feet to a maximum of 200 feet, The Canyons was designated as a “Man and Biosphere Reserve” by UNESCO in 1973.

Earlier this year, CNNGo recognized Siargao, a teardrop-shaped island in Surigao del Norte, as the eighth best surfing spot in the world.

Manila, meanwhile, was hailed by the website as one of Asia’s greatest food cities.

Online voters, who visit the Skyscanner site to buy tickets or choose their holiday destination, also rated the Philippines as among the three countries with the least rude locals.

“We are hoping that (these recognitions) will boost our campaign that ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines,’” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Even reports of clean comfort rooms in airports and other facilities would be most welcome, she said.

“We encourage the public to report their experiences, either good or bad, so we can do something about them and also for them to hear the efforts being done by our agencies,” Valte said.

Valte said it was also good that the “hospitality” of Filipinos as well as their pleasantness and politeness were receiving worldwide attention, aside from the beautiful tourist spots.

In earlier reports, Dow Griffiths, location manager of the Hollywood film “The Bourne Legacy,” declared Filipino hospitality as the best thing about their month-long stay in the country.

In an interview with The New York Times published last March 22, Griffiths spoke of his and his crew’s stay in Manila for the movie shoot.

“The ‘Bourne’ movies are known as a more urban and gritty kind of product, and that was certainly true of Manila. It is congested, with the highest population density in the world. But the people are the best thing about it. Don’t be fooled by the signs everywhere that say ‘Check Your Firearms at the Door.’ Many citizens are packing, but you couldn’t meet more hospitable people,” he said.

In a TV interview last January, the film’s Philippine producer, Jun Juban, said the producers picked Manila over Jakarta in Indonesia and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam for the shoot for the reason Griffiths cited.

According to his official website, Griffiths is a film industry veteran who has been working as a supervising motion picture location manager since the mid-1970s, specializing in “remote, foreign locations.”

His most recent projects were “Contagion,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Merchant of Shanghai,” “Indiana Jones 4: The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull,” and “The Bourne Supremacy.”

Griffiths also raved about the service given to them while billeted at a hotel in Makati City.

“Sometimes, when you are traveling, no matter how much you spend, you can’t buy good service,” he said. “We enjoyed personalized service at very affordable prices.”

Asked if he would go back to Manila for a vacation, Griffiths said, “For the casual traveler, it’s a good place to go to get somewhere else.”

“The real reason to go to the Philippines is to explore its more than 7,000 islands, from the heights of the rice terraces of Banaue to dives with the whale sharks in Donsol – and that’s just on one island, Luzon. El Nido, on Palawan Island, is paradise, and for a family trip, you are very well looked after at any of the resorts,” Griffiths was quoted as saying.

Griffiths, along with the cast and crew of “The Bourne Legacy,” were in the country from January to February this year.

Their filming locations included parts of Manila, Navotas, Marikina and Palawan. – With Juancho Mahusay

...the IMO white lister

PHL stays on IMO 'White List' — DOLE chief

 

February 21, 2012

GMA News

 

 

Filipino seafarers are assured of continued good standing in the global maritime community, as the Philippines maintained its standing in the White List of the International Maritime Organization, the Department of Labor and Employment said Tuesday.
 
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the Philippines has taken corrective actions recommended by the European Commission’s Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
 
“The Philippines remains firmly solid on the IMO's 'white list' in 2011, which reflects its consistent and sustained efforts in giving full and complete effect to the IMO's revised Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping Convention (STCW '95) as amended," Baldoz said.
 
According to the DOLE, the country has consistently sustained and maintained its inclusion in the "White List" in 2000, 2005, and 2009.
 
Baldoz said the submission of updates on the corrective actions taken in response to the EMSA audit recommendations "demonstrate our firm commitment to improve our higher maritime education, training, and certification systems.”
 
Meanwhile, the DOLE said the Philippine Maritime Training Council (MTC) and the Seamen’s Employment Center of Japan (SECOJ) signed a memorandum of agreement to implement the MTC's 2012 Maritime Instructors’ Training Program.
 
SECOJ is an authorized judicial foundation of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
 
The DOLE said the MOA was signed last week at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila between SECOJ general manager Yasuhiko Semba and MTC Director Liberty Casco.
 
Witnesses included Capt. Toshi Seki of the SECOJ and MTC staff.
 
Baldoz said the agreement is just one of the many examples of bilateral cooperation between the Japanese and Philippine government that could result to a steady supply of qualified and competent Filipino seafarers not only for Japanese ships, but also to the whole maritime industry.
 
"We have seen the assistance of our Japanese partners in various forms such as the establishment of training centers, provision of cadetship slots, and grant of training equipment, among others, to the Philippine maritime education and training sector,” she said.
 
MTC's Casco said the MOA aims to improve the teaching skills of Philippine maritime instructors and to provide them with up-to-date technical information related to their specialty. "This kind of HRD initiative will improve their capacity to effectively conduct various training courses, and thus enhance the quality of education and training of our seafarers."
 
The program consists of onboard training and a classroom training which shall be held in Japan for two-and-a-half months. All training costs, including air tickets, clothing, training allowance, accommodation, transportation and medical costs shall be borne by SECOJ.
 
Baldoz noted that similar agreements were signed in 2010 and 2011.
 
There are 12 Filipino maritime instructors who have undertaken the SECOJ training scheme, two of whom came from the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP). The two had undergone the training from January 7 to March 18, 2011.
 
A second batch of 10 maritime instructors came from government and private maritime institutions - the National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP), Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP), Philippine Association of Maritime Training Centers, Inc. (PAMTCI), and the Philippine Association of Maritime Institutions (PAMI).
 
The 10 started their training on January 6 and are scheduled to finish it by March. — ELR, GMA News

...the educator

Ilongga educator conferred the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit award

By TARA YAP

October 19, 2011

Manila Bulletin

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — The chairperson of the John B. Lacson Foundation Maritime University (JBLFMU) has been awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit.

Dr. Mary Lou Lacson-Arcelo was given the Nordic award for “outstanding service in the interests of Norway” by Norwegian Ambassador Knut Solem.

Solem recognized the JBLFMU through Lacson-Arcelo’s “sterling leadership” as one of the world’s leading maritime educational institutions that have produced competent seafarers serving on board Norwegian ships sailing worldwide.

Solem also emphasized that because of the efforts of Lacson-Arcelo, the relationship between the Philippines and Norway have been strengthened with the common tradition of seafaring.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian ambassador challenged the JBLFMU to improve even further its academic standards to enable its graduates to be highly qualified in the international shipping industry.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian Maritime Foundation of the Philippines Inc. disclosed that the world shipping industry is facing a looming global shortage with approximately 50,000 competent seafarers needed. The shortage is expected to double by 2015.

Lacson-Arcelo assured the Norwegian ambassador that the JBLFMU will continue to be among the top maritime educational institutions with the capacity to produce competent cadets and officers with its academic policies.

The institution currently enforces a strictly high-standard screening policy which requires a 70% passing rate for students enrolling in its maritime courses.

Dr. Ronald Raymond Lacson Sebastian, JBLFMU chief executive officer, also disclosed that the university maintains a linkage with the Norwegian Training Center to integrate the latest maritime technology in training cadets to be at par with international standards.

...the seamen's hero

Filipino seamen’s hero is a girl

Philippine Daily Inquirer

9:34 pm | Sunday, August 7th, 2011

 

 

Marissa Oca

MANILA, Philippines—Filipino seafarers are the most in demand in the world, accounting for 30 percent of about 1.2 million seamen abroad—from cruise liners to oil rigs. Dubbed “crewing capital of the world,” the Philippines has emerged as the world’s biggest supplier of international ship crew.

International manning principals have called Filipino seamen their “preferred choice” because of their outstanding qualities: Technical knowledge, flexibility, reliability, trustworthiness, hard work, and their command of the English language.

During the first quarter of 2011 seafarers have contributed $627.3 million to Philippine coffers. Last year, they brought $3.8 billion in remittances.

With a growing global requirement projected to grow at 50 percent in the next 10 years, and an aging international pool to boot, career prospects for Filipino maritime professionals are certainly bright.

With a lucrative seafaring industry it has then become imperative for maritime professionals to unite to protect their social, legal, moral rights both on the domestic and international fronts.

For 50 years, the late master mariner Gregorio S. Oca fought for seafarers’ protection through the Associated Marine Officers’ Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), which he established in 1960. The largest organization binding maritime professionals, AMOSUP offers a wide spectrum of programs that include maritime education training, family dental and hospitalization, welfare and mutual benefit plans, and housing.

Earlier, his brother, labor leader Roberto S. Oca Jr., formed the Philippine Transport General Workers Organization (PTGWO) in 1951. By 1960, Gregorio, concerned with the plight of the licensed crew of several shipping lines, had constituted AMOSUP, with PTGWO as mother organization.

Today, Gregorio’s life’s work is being continued by his daughter Marissa, the current administrator of AMOSUP’s community development programs. Marissa’s early exposure to her father’s deeds planted the seeds in her young mind. Providing support are her brothers Conrado, president of AMOSUP, and Pedro Miguel, president of NAESS Philippines Incorporated.

“My exposure with AMOSUP began in high school when my father asked me to help out in AMOSUP’s 50-bed hospital, the Roberto S. Oca Worker’s Clinic which serviced seafarers and dock workers and their families,” recounts Marissa.

The said hospital would later become the 100-bed Seamen’s Hospital in Intramuros, Manila. This was followed by other hospital openings in the provinces: Cebu in 1997, Iloilo in 2005, and the Gig Oca Robles Seamen’s Foundation Hospital in Davao in 2008.

Fully immersed in hospital work after earning her economics degree from the University of California in Sta. Barbara, Marissa later enrolled at the University of the Philippines for a master’s degree in hospital administration.

Human cost

In the report “The Human Cost of Somali Piracy,” it was underscored that despite the many gains achieved by seafarers, problems continue to escalate globally as mariners are being subjected to increasing violence at sea including physical and psychological abuse—even torture.

Published by the Oceans Beyond Piracy, an organization dedicated to achieving a long-term, sustainable solution to piracy, the report stated that in 2010 alone, more than 4,000 seafarers were attacked—some vessels and crew multiple times.

“And this is a very critical issue that needs to be addressed because we have a lot of Filipino seafarers out there whose lives are on the line.  Certainly there is a need to impose additional safety measures. In extreme cases they suffer from significant psychological or physical abuse; worse, torture,” reveals Marissa.

In fact, as of May, 2011, there were 79 Filipino seafarers on board nine vessels still in captivity.

To address this escalating problem, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) last year imposed an additional requirement for departing seafarers to undergo a one-day defense training against sea pirates before boarding foreign sea vessels.

For its part, AMOSUP provides psychosocial counseling and support services to seafarers and families who were victims of abduction.

“This is a most difficult ordeal not only for seafarers but also for their next-of-kins who go through tough psychological torment. Our community development programs include activities that promote mental and psychological well-being of seafarers’ families,” she explains.

Making something out of a loss

Marissa is one who always puts the family first ahead of anyone else, be it for the seafarers that she deals with regularly, and more so with herself.

When she lost her 17-year old son Ambrosio Gregorio “Gig” Oca Robles IV after a tragic accident, Marissa’s deep and joyful appreciation for her departed son became the wellspring of many inspired actions.

Among them is a reading advocacy for the families of seafarers. “I would always read to my children at bedtime every night. When they grew, I found myself soliciting books for the library that supported a school in the Seamen’s Village, which my father founded. After Gig passed on, this simple desire to promote reading literacy would transform into an advocacy,” Marissa explains. She also spearheaded the creation of the Gig and Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, Inc., (GASFI).

“At any one time, when there are at least 230,000 Filipino seafarers on ships worldwide, there are one million children with their family members left at home. It is in the context of the one-parent family or the distant parent setup that we wish to advocate reading as bonding time at seafarer families’ homes,” explains Marissa.

GASFI has so far printed 10 children’s books targeted for seafarer families; and given away for free. The stories were culled from works written by authors who won in a story-writing contest GASFI launched last year.

Seafarers’ welfare

Underscoring the need to strengthen the bond between seafarers and family members amid difficult issues such as coping with loneliness, homesickness and “burn-out,” Marissa organized the 1st International Seafarer Family Convention (ISFC) 2011 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), Pasay City.

With theme “The Bonds of Families, the Success of the World,” the two-day conference and exhibit was the first in the industry, and became the biggest gathering of maritime industry professionals and stakeholders.

“There are many issues being dealt by seafarer families left behind by parents who have to be away for long periods of time. We should all be aware that not only the family, but also the government, ship owners, employers, NGOs, and many others have a stake in keeping the families of seafarers together,” explains Marissa.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), through the support of local government units, has created more seafarers’ help desks in the different regions to allow services to become more accessible. It has also continued to implement schemes for a rationalized distribution of scholarship slots for the deserving children of seafarers throughout the country, and increase the number of family welfare officers and counselors, who are responsible for conducting regular family visitations.

...the candidate

Philippine candidate for IMO top post woos Bangladesh support

INQUIRER.net

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

 

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine candidate for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) secretary general position, Neil Frank R. Ferrer, visited Dhaka recently to campaign for support of Bangladesh, the Philippine Embassy in Bangladesh said.

Ferrer, a highly experienced career diplomat and chairman of the Philippines’ Maritime Safety Committee, outlined his plans for the IMO if given the chance to lead the organization during his meetings with Bangladeshi officials.

He first met with Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs-UN Wing Director Ishrat Jahan Ahmed on April 27. The following day, he was received by Bangladesh Minister of Shipping Shajahan Khan.

Ferrer said that while the IMO maintains its principal regulatory role, it should also be responsible for regulating international maritime issues.

Ferrer said the key to effective implementation of the IMO’s strategic plan is the close coordination of all members and stakeholders.

Among the issues the maritime group needs to address is how it can contribute to international efforts to curb atmospheric pollution and address climate change, he said.

Another is with the greater use of information and communication technology in maritime transport and the improvement and innovation in shipping facilities, Ferrer said.

Ferrer, whose candidacy in the IMO was endorsed by President Benigno Aquino, was assisted by Third Secretary and Vice Consul Mary Grace V. Villamayor his visit to Dhaka. Roemart Tamayo, contributor