--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "terrence lionheart"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
THE Philippines is the largest supplier of seafarers in the global
labor industry. Some 180,000 Filipinos or 28.5 percent of the total
maritime population of 632,000 are on board vessels worldwide. Russia
is second with 7.3 percent.
Seafarers contribute about 10 percent of the total OFW remittances to
the country, a major life-line of the Philippine economy.
But of the more than 500,000 registered Filipino seafarers, enough to
man most of the vessels afloat around the world, more than 300,000
are unemployed.
Although Filipino seafarers are known to be "the best and most sought
after in the maritime industry," according to Professor Tony Lane of
the Seafarers International Research Center (SIRC) in Cardiff
University, United Kingdom, "the demand for Philippine seafarers is
tapering off." From 19.8 percent of Filipino seafarers deployed in
1995, only 3.4 percent were on board between 2000 and 2001, according
to data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).
Danger in the Arab Sea
There is more bad news for Filipino seafarers. The imminent American-
led war against Iraq affects will affect the security and safety not
only of over 100 overseas Filipino workers there but also of
Filipinos working on board vessels plying the Arabian Sea.
"Our seafarers, numbering perhaps thousands, in the Arabian Sea and
the Persian Gulf would suffer," says Father Sabino Bernardi of the
Apostleship of the Sea of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP). "Filipinos on board the different international
vessels traversing between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab
Emirates, Iraq and Iran would certainly be affected by a war in that
area, and eventually, also their families."
But it goes further than that, says Professor Lane, whose center is
considered the most knowledgeable on the global maritime
industry, "If war breaks out, this will be bad news for seafarers, as
well as for the oil trade. With the increase of oil prices, the
tanker trade will be reduced, consequently affecting the seafarers
globally. Ships will be carrying fewer cargoes and also weight
pressure on the wages. There will be a lot of unemployment in the
maritime industry."
Mushrooming of maritime schools
Although the Philippine maritime industry is feeling the crunch, the
country's maritime schools continue to turn out new graduates. The
mushrooming of maritime schools around the country was a response to
the global demand for seamen in the labor export market.
In 2000, there were 121 maritime schools in the country. But last
year the number was down to 76, twenty of which will be phased-out in
the next two years, after their last students have graduated.
Although these 20 schools have not conformed to the regulations of
the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Commissioner Manuel Punzal
says they have to be allowed to graduate their students. "Otherwise
they can file a case against us," says Punzal.
However, he adds, "We will also tell the students that these schools
are already being phased-out and advise them to transfer to other
schools. We have that obligation."
The fact remains though, that the students of these 20 schools, who
pay tuition fees as high as P531.42 per unit (excluding "other fees",
books, and the required white uniforms), are not getting an adequate
maritime education, and when they graduate, they will be given last
priority by employers for deployment on vessels.
The SIRC notes that most local maritime schools and training centers
are focused on profits, rather than on providing a proper education
to their students. They are plagued by the absence of a faculty
development program, low pay and poor incentives for teachers,
outdated learning facilities and equipment, and overcrowded classes.
There are hardly any scholarships provided for deserving
underprivileged students, and some of them do not even have a vessel
for training their students.
Red tape after graduation
After they graduate, seamen lament that their diploma is not yet
enough for them to get a job. They still have a lot of red tape to
hurdle.
The aspiring seafarer must apply for his Seaman's Identification and
Record Book (SIRB) at the MARINA ( Maritime Industry Authority),
which is the central registrar for seafarers. There, the fresh
graduate must deal with the issue of bribery.
"It is like when you apply for a driver's license; either you pay a
fixer or wait in line and that can last forever until your papers are
processed," says a staff member of the CBCP's Apostleship of the Sea.
Then, the young seafarer has to go to TESDA (Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority) for a certification that he has
undergone the required training courses, and the POEA (Philippine
Overseas Employment Authority) to get his Seaman's Registration Card.
To get around this time-consuming process of overlapping bureaucratic
procedures and red tape in the processing of documents, it was
suggested during the Filipino Seafarers' National Convention held
recently in Manila, that a one-stop processing center be created and
located in one government agency.
Fraudulent certification, fixers, extortion
"Overlapping functions breed fraudulent certification, corrupt fixers
or go-betweens, extortion and inconsistencies in policy
implementation," notes Tony Lane of SIRC.
He reveals that the International Maritime Organization lists
Filipino seamen as having the most number of reported cases of fake
papers. "There is a perception among the international shipping
companies about the prevalence of fraudulent certificates among
Filipino seafarers," Lane says.
After acquiring the necessary documents from the government agencies,
the seafarer is ready for the market-theoretically. He goes to a
manning agency, which requires him, before employment, to undertake
specific training courses in a center connected, directly or
indirectly, with the agency.
The training courses, such as the 10-day Basic Safety Course, costs
between P3,000 to P5,000, depending on the training center. For
officers, a special five to 10-day training course can cost from P
23,000 to P 47,000. There is even a special training school in Subic
that charges in dollars.
There are also training schools where one need not be present for the
duration of the course, as long as he pays the fee. Fortunately,
these centers have been identified and blacklisted.
Often, the certificate issued by one training center is not
acceptable to a manning agency that has its own training center. "So
we have to undergo the same training, pay again, in another center
suggested by the agency," say young seafarers who have gone through
the ordeal.
By law, manning agencies are not allowed to charge seafarers
recruiting fees. However, those who are lucky enough to get jobs are
not surprised to see a monthly deduction from their salaries credited
to the manning agency.
Good pay, early retirement
According to a survey conducted by the Apostleship of the Sea, the
monthly salary of Filipino seafarers ranges between $400 to $3,000.
The survey also showed that women, who work mostly as waitresses in
cruise vessels, get as low as $50 a month, augmenting their meager
salaries with tips given by passengers. The trend among recruiters
therefore is to employ more female than male waiters, who have higher
rates.
Normally, seamen retire early, at around 40 years of age, while
senior officers take their leave from the sea at 45. Globally,
shipping companies impose an age limit in hiring to ensure that the
seafarers are healthy and physically fit, and they can save on
medical costs.
On retirement, seafarers find work in seafarer manning agencies or as
instructors in training and maritime schools. Some establish their
own maritime schools in their hometowns, but others leave the
seafaring life behind and open their own small businesses with their
savings and pension.
But not everyone ends up this way. After 33 years of seafaring, a
Cebuano chief engineer returned to an empty house. His wife had left
him, his four children, whose schooling he financed while at sea,
were married with lives of their own-- two worked in the United
States, the other two in Cebu City.
Today he lives alone in a small house, moving about in a wheel chair,
having lost one of his legs in an accident on his last voyage. His
only source of funds is his pension, which hardly keeps him above
water. Sometimes, his daughter in Cebu sends him money.
There are those who are even less lucky. Two years ago, avessel with
a 16-man Filipino crew disappeared. It was last sighted in the China
Sea, between China and Taiwan. No wreck was found, not even isolated
debris or a tell-tale corpse, as if the vessel and its men were
swallowed by a sea monster. Although the families of the missing
seamen received $50,000 each as compensation, they continue to hope
for the return of their sons, husbands and fathers.
--- End forwarded message ---
JALESVEVA YAYAMAHE
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