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"If you don't get on the first white list, the Philippines is going to get such bad publicity, people will loose confidence." Dearsley warned.
He said the international shipping industry wanted Filipino seafarers, "because they're competent, reliable, and people like them."
"But in this cold hard economic world out there, uncertainty is what shipowners hate," Dearsley said. "You've not got much time."
The IMO panel thrice returned the compliance report submitted by Philippine maritime authorities for being unsatisfactory.
The first report was submitted in July 1998, the second last December, and the third was submitted on Feb. 23.
The confusion is apparently caused by the sheer number of agencies involved in the training and certification of Filipino seafarers, namely the Marina, Professional Re gulatory Commission, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Commission for Higher Education.
There is also the Maritime Training Council headed by labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma and composed of representatives from Marina, PRC, TESDA, and CHED.
The STCW Convention 95, however, requires that only one agency be responsible for the training, assessment and endorsement of seafarers.
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