A HIGHER official of a shipping organization complained that they were not consulted regarding the signed agreement between the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Commission on Higher Education (Ched), which prompted for a meeting that led to the deal being put on hold.
“We were not consulted and that the thing is we are the most affected by it,” said Lucio Lim, chairman of the Philippine Coastwise Shipping Association Inc. (PCSA), in a mix of Cebuano and English on Thursday, March 30, 2023.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was signed between PCG Admiral Artemio Abu and Ched chairman Popoy De Vera III on Feb. 2, 2023 in Manila to further improve the training system for maritime students.
In the deal, it said that Ched will create a database of students reported by Maritime Higher Education Institutions to be on board domestic ships for training and will collect data for proper monitoring of students.
PCSA first appealed on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, through the letters they wrote addressed to PCG and Ched requesting the abeyance of the MOA since they were not consulted about it.
They asked for a consultation with shipowners and operators to be held in Cebu since most ship operators are based here.
“We believe that proper consultation and exchange of ideas from all stakeholders be conducted before any plan is executed which could cause confusion and/or delays in our normal operations,” a portion of the letter reads.
Under the MOA, it also stated that the PCG will conduct interviews with cadets and Shipboard Training Officers to ensure proper training and adherence to a training schedule.
It will also check to see if the trainees are doing ship work related to their training program.
Lim said there are provisions in the deal that are not acceptable to them, which include requiring shipowners to provide accommodation to each apprentice mate.
He said most of the ships are small, adding that they have already given up a portion of the passenger area for the maritime students.
“We are helping. It is not our responsibility to accept these apprentice mates, but if they make it hard for us by requiring a lot of things, then definitely we will say it is better to have no apprentice mates because that is not our problem,” he said.
He said that what the shipowners do is a privilege to the apprentice mates, “they pay their tuition to the school but they are training with us.”
Meanwhile, Lim confirmed that the letter they sent resulted in a meeting with officials from PCG, Ched and the Maritime Industry Authority on Thursday, March 30, to discuss their position on the matter and to suspend the agreement.
“We told them that it should be reviewed. We should all talk again on what can be done. The primary consideration here is to accept more apprentice mates, not reduce them,” he added.
Lim said he is grateful to Ched and PGC for reconsidering their stance on the matter.
The PCSA is the largest shipping association in the Philippines and the biggest in terms of total gross tonnage of ships combined. It represents 50 members with more than 600 vessels from small to medium in size.