The country's lucrative ship manning industry, which provides overseas emloyment for some 280,000 Filipios, is in danger of collapsing as maritime authorities have only until this month to fulfill the requirements needed for the Philippines to make it to the International Maritime Organization's "white list."

Inclusion in the IMO white list means a country has complied with international training and assessment standards for seafarers.

Without the IMO certification, Filipino seafarers would not be hired abroad.

A visiting IMO official said "serious questions remain" in the Philippines' compliance report, and that "there is not much time" left to address them.

David Dearsley, deputy director general of the International Shipping Federation and International Chamber of Shipping, said the Philippines has yet to comply with the requirement that there be only one head agency to implement the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) set during the IMO Convention in 1995.

"In countries like the Philippines where there are several agencies involved in training and assessment, this is going to create problems. This was foreseen two years ago," Dearsley told a breakfast forum yesterday at the Trader's Hotel in Manila.

He said the Philippine compliance report submitted to the IMO "panel of competent persons" did not suppport the official claim that the Maritime Industry Authority was the sole agency.

"They (the panel) still have some serious questions to raise about the Philippines," said Dearsley. "The problem is you've got confusion in your paperwork which the competent people have problems with."

He said another key issue was the "administration and the way the report is presented." He did not elaborate.

The Philippine panel is bracing for a make-or-break meeting with the IMO, which is made up of more than 80 countries with shipping concerns.

Without IMO certification, the Philippines will suffer much since the country is the world's biggest supplier of seamen and seafarers, providing 20 percent of world demand.

Dearsley said the IMO had delayed announcing the white list from May to December this year out of consideration for the Philippines.

However, the white list is expected to be finalized by June during the meeting of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee.