Quezon City- On July 1, 2013, the inception of the Sixteenth Congress, ANGKLA Party-List filed House Bill No. 719 which designated the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) as the single and central maritime administration responsible for the enforcement of international agreements/covenants governing the country’s global maritime professionals.

The bill aims to  avert the possibility of loss of employment and/or employment ban of hiring Filipino seafarers by the European Union flag vessels as the European Maritime Agency (EMSA) threatened to impose an employment ban due to the country’s continuing inability to fully comply with the 1978 International Convention on the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), among which is the absence of clarity as to the sole authority vested with the responsibility and international accountability for the education, training and certification of Filipino seafarers.

Additionally, in his  explanatory note, Rep. Jesulito Manalo of ANGKLA Party-List pointed out that a single maritime regulatory agency is necessary in order to streamline and impose uniform policies and standards for the protection of the maritime global professionals, and in order to achieve an effective and efficient regulation of the human complement of the seaborne trade.

With MARINA as a single maritime agency, these bureaucratic procedures will be eradicated and simplified, with an identifiable administrative agency, and compliant with the standards set by the STCW Convention.