ABSENTEE VOTING FOR SEAFARERS

02 March 2012

HON. ELPIDIO F. BARZAGA JR.
Chairperson, Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms
3/F Annex Building, House of Representatives, Quezon City

HON. LUCENITO N. TAGLE
Commissioner, Commission on Elections
Intramuros, Manila

Subject: ON-LINE REGISTRATION AND CASTING OF VOTES FOR OVERSEAS ABSENTEE VOTERS (OAV)

Dear Sirs:

We have long been advocating for electoral reforms, particularly the manner by which RA 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 was implemented. Unless this law is amended or a new voting system is develop, seafarers, who are most of time at sea, cannot exercise their rights to suffrage. This is a fact that has been proven in the past national elections.

A) REASONS WHY THE OAV LAW WILL NOT WORK FOR SEAFARERS:

1. Owing to the nature of their work, a great majority of seafarers are unregistered voters. After completion of contracts, they go on leave for 2-3 months then return back onboard for another contract. Record showed that in the last 2010 national election, out of 300,000 onboard seafarers, only 2,500 successfully registered for the OAV and out of this number only 500 were actually able to cast their votes.

2. The rules and procedures for registration abroad is to visit Philippine embassy or consulate offices nearest their region, present a seaman’s book and accomplish an OAV form from the COMELEC. But what if there’s no Philippine embassy/consulate in the country where their ships are presently docked? And if there is, what if it is located too far from the harbor? Aware of the limited time in port, Filipino seamen will not attempt to travel several hours away from their ships just to register as OAV lest they will be left behind, be charged with desertion, dereliction of duty and lose their jobs. The master’s primary concern (especially foreign masters) is the operations of his ship, not the conduct or process of our national election.

3. Assuming that, in spite of all the intricacies and difficulties involved, they manage to register in their home provinces, main COMELEC office in Intramuros or even in embassies and consulates abroad, how can they cast their votes at sea? If they happen to be in port, the same problem (as in no.2) will occur if they troop to the polling places.

4. One of the requirements for postal voting is for an OAV registered seafarer to provide a forwarding address where COMELEC can send the ballot and election paraphernalia. How can this be possible when even the operator/owner doesn’t know the itinerary of his vessel? Ships derive their income from freights and charter hires but it is the charterer who decides where to load and deliver the cargoes. Unless the ship is on a time charter, there is usually a change of charterer after one or two voyages. Moreover, there are no mail men traveling in the middle of the oceans to deliver election paraphernalia and pick up ballots.

Taking into account all of the above, the only way seamen can avail of the OAV bill is by an ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION AND VOTING system. COMELEC should create a website whereby seafarers can register on-line, download ballots and cast their votes through the internet. Considering the rapid advance in modern communication and computer technology, this can easily be done. All it need is a push from lawmakers and a political will to make these changes.

B) MATTERS TO CONSIDER:

Forget about registration locally or abroad. For reasons already mentioned, this cannot work for seafarers. COMELEC officials should understand that aside from spending quality time with their families, seafarers are required to undergo series of compulsory trainings while on leave to enhance their skills, keep them abreast of the latest STCW 95 requirements and validate their licenses and certificates. Therefore, their line of thinking is that they have far more better things to do other than registering as absentee voter, a right to vote which they perceived they couldn’t exercise anyway whilst serving onboard the ship. Allow them to register and vote on-line to encourage them to participate in the election process.

To uphold the secrecy and sanctity of ballots and provide an honest and orderly OAV election, upon registration, in lieu of the absentee voter identification card, COMELEC should issue a scratch card, similar to those sold for telephone calling card and prepaid services, with concealed PIN codes that can only be revealed by scratching off the opaque covering. These PIN codes shall be used to gain access to COMELEC’s election website. A PIN code can only be used once.

C) MECHANICS FOR REGISTRATION:

To prevent fraud and multiple registrations (registration as both ordinary and OAV voter), the following rules should be adopted:

1. Registering as OAV voter shall be done either at the embassies and consulates abroad or through on-line registration. PIN codes (as mentioned above) shall be issued by embassies/consulates or the computer system right after registration. As soon as the COMELEC”s computer system accepts and confirms the new voting status, the registrant’s name, if already registered as voter, shall be removed from the voter’s list that is usually printed and posted by COMELEC in various polling precincts. By now, this system must already be in place, otherwise even the present mechanism of OAV for seamen and OFWs is prone to elements of cheating and electoral fraud. Without purging of voter’s list, how can a seaman or an OFW be prevented from voting twice if before taking their leave they cast their votes at the embassies/consulates abroad then vote again in their home towns once they arrive the country on or before the day of election?

2. The requirements for on-line registration are:

2.1 Complete details of Passport;
2.2 Complete details of Seaman’s book (for seaman only);
2.3 Provincial and city address, district and barangay presently registered as voter (if already a registered voter).

3. To confirm the veracity of information provided by an applicant in an on-line registration, the COMELEC’s computer system must be linked with the data bank of both DFA and MARINA. No one will attempt to secure passports and seaman’s books just to manipulate an election. Everyone knows how tedious and difficult it is to produce training certificates and documentary requirements needed to apply for these travel documents.

4. The computer system should be programmed to identify and reject any multiple or bogus applications.

5. Those already registered as OAV voters must again register to get their PIN codes.

D) MECHANICS FOR CASTING OF VOTES

1. In casting of votes, the PIN code shall first be entered to access the computer system and download the sample ballot. After selecting the candidates of their choice, the system would again require them to enter the details of their passports and seaman books. The computer system should be able to identify PIN codes assigned to specific passports and seaman’s books. This can deter any unscrupulous individuals from manufacturing PIN codes as it is worthless without entering the data of travel documents (refer to item. 3 above).

2. Even if they happen to be in the country at the time of election, they can only cast their votes on-line, not through the voting precincts of their home town (In the first place, their names have already been delisted as ordinary voters).

3. The computer system should be programmed to reject any ballots with incorrect inputs and improper information.

4. All ships plying the oceans of the world have internet facilities onboard.

E) LAND-BASED WORKERS OR OFWs

While there are about a million OFWs scattered all over the globe, during the 2010 elections, only 580,000 registered as absentee voters, and out of this number only 150,000 cast their votes. “A measly 25% of the registered voters”, said the COMELEC. This only means that the land-based workers may also be encountering problems similar to the seafarers.

F) SEAFARERS AND LAND-BASED WORKERS AS “SWAY” VOTES

In the later part of 2011, there are now about 500,000 Filipino seafarers employed both locally and abroad, the greater number of which was deployed onboard world-wide trading ships. This figure is expected to multiply as demands for Filipino seafarers continue to increase. In the next few years, the manning industry predicted there will be about 1 million seafarers’ onboard foreign trading ships, comprising about 50 % of the total global requirements of shipboard personnel.

However, elections have always been a number game. If the quantity of the subject sectoral votes is not a “sway” votes or the number of voters is insufficient to influence the outcome of a national election, the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) and COMELEC may not bother to modernize the system of election exclusively for this sector. It would not justify spending millions of pesos just to engage in a selective computerization. Therefore, this proposal to computerize the OAV voting system must be extended and made available not only to seafarers but to millions of OFWs as well. The same system of registration and casting of votes can be applied.

With remittances of seafarers and land-based contract workers amounting to billions of US dollars and their propensity to spend their bonuses, overtime and leave pays upon arrival - usually double the amount of what they remitted to their families - the seafaring and OCW industry plays a vital role in pump-priming the Philippine economy.

The absentee voters act (RA 9189) continue to prejudice both Filipino seafarers and land-based workers as far as voting rights are concerned. The Joint Congressional Oversight committee and COMELEC should now seriously consider implementing the electronic voting system. If our government acknowledges their significant contributions to the growth of our country’s economy, then they should be given an equal opportunity to participate in national elections and select the political leaders of their choice.

Should you require my presence, I will be more than willing to visit you to elaborate and discuss more on this issue.

Respectfully yours,
ASSOCIATION of MARINE OFFICERS and RATINGS (AMOR) SEAMAN


CAPT. VICTOR Y. ALVIOLA
Secretary General

PACIFIC VALIANT, INC.
6th Floor, Kings Court 1 Bldg.,
2129 Chino Roces Ave., cor. Dela Rosa St., Makati City
Tel. No.(632) 856-5094
Mobile no. 0929-842-0440
Email: vicpvi@yahoo.com

AMOR SEAMAN
Tel, No. (632) 903-5071
Email: amorsecretariat@yahoo.com

LESSONS ON HUMILITY AND GENEROSITY

By: Capt. Alvils


There is more than one reason why we should be humble in victory and generous in prosperity. We do not hold the future. Today you can be a king, tomorrow a pauper. Respect people, share what you have with them and they will go out of their way to aid and support you in times of distress.

“Remember the faces of people and be kind to them on your way up, for they will be the same faces you will see on your way down”, is a wise quotation worth pondering with.

I have a friend who once enjoyed all the comforts and luxuries in life. He was, at that time, holding an important government position that allows him to earn a staggering 6-digits figure income out of commissions, professional fees and grease monies. Cash (both local and foreign currencies) flowed in like spring water; too bountiful that at times he could no longer remember where he hides them. There was one occasion when his wife discovered a bundle of US dollar notes neatly concealed under a closet, resting on the humid pavement, totally destroyed and devoured to dust by termites. The numerous vehicles that he owned, of varying types and sizes, properties that he bought, large, comfortable house he built, and a class hotel suite where he kept his mistresses became the envy of his peers. He frequently brags of his achievements, finds other people life’s status inferior than him, and ridicules those who asked for financial assistance.

“What happen to you? At your age you should already be worth millions of pesos like me”, was his usual dialogue whenever somebody borrows money from him.

But nothing will last forever. Misfortunes suddenly befell him. Following an administrative complaint and the discovery of his lack of civil service illegibility, he was suspended and eventually relieved of his duties. But the incident did not bother him, much less change his personality. Confident that he will soon be reinstated, he remains a proud, bragger and self-conceited man. Years passed and he was still unemployed. He tried entering politics but to no avail. Gradually, his savings depleted and properties after properties were sold to support his lifestyle. Soon, he would be penniless and had to resort to asking money from people, even for small change; people whom he once mocked and ridiculed in the past.

Depressed by the unhappy event of his life, he suffered a mild stroke and lost his mobility. Shunned by his former associates who pretend to be his friends, political supporters who feasted on his millions when he run for councilor of his district, mistresses who abandoned him for lack of support, he now sits quietly in one corner of his mother-in-law’s house, reminiscing the past and wondering what went wrong with his life. Despite the encouragement of his faithful wife who continues to stay beside him, he defied doctor’s advice and persisted on heavily smoking even with his physical impairment, perhaps determined to shorten his life.

We all experience the vicious cycle of life’s “ups and downs”. We shouldn’t forget that once we get to the top, there’s no other direction except the bottom. This is God’s way of telling us that nothing is permanent in life other than death.

Some of those who reached the summit of their career are drowned by wealth, fame, fortune and power, totally unprepared to lessen and cushion the impact of the fall.

“Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away” - Job 1:21

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OUR CULTURE OF BLAMING AND FINGER POINTING

By: Capt. Alvils

We, Filipinos have a habit of blaming others for our own failures. When something goes wrong we point a finger at somebody; not knowing that every time we make this gesture, 3 of our fingers points back at us, another one pointing to where we’re standing.

There are many theories about the causes of malaise that afflicts our country. One can make all kinds of speculations, but the most logical reason is our damaged culture.

We blame illegal loggings for the denudations of our forest and destruction of our watersheds; believe to be the primary cause of flooding and landslides. But so far nothing has been done about it. The only thing that our lawmakers did was to enact a law imposing life imprisonment for offenders. Whether they can enforce this law and jail the culprits still remains to be seen. What makes them think that imposing stiffer penalties can deter these scoundrels from cutting down trees? Despite the total log ban imposed by Malacanang, several timber firms enjoy immunity from their Autonomous Regions for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) protectors. If they were able to get away in the past by bribing corrupt ARMM officials, how can they be stopped now when the same officials are still around? Some are even directly involved in these illicit activities.

Local leaders of the cities of Iligan and Cagayan De Oro blame PAGASA for lack of weather warning during the pre-Christmas catastrophic flooding. PAGASA disputed their claim, saying it was them who ignored and took for granted the regular weather bulletin issued by the bureau thinking that “Sendong”, a weak tropical storm (it was upgraded from LPA to TS just before making landfall), will pass by Mindanao Island without much incident. PAGASA was right. The storm had an average wind force, not enough to blow rooftops or destroy structures, but they failed to foresee the huge amount of rainfall that it carried. Unlike other advanced nation, our bureau’s weather instruments are not sophisticated enough to forecast the quantity of downpour (inches of rain) that a typhoon brings.

“Let’s face it, unlike the people of Luzon, Mindanao, particularly the residents of the cities of Iligan and Cagayan De Oro, are not used to extreme weather conditions. So, you cannot expect them to be prepared when severe flooding strike their areas”, said one weather analyst.

The Iligay-nons and Cagay-anons blame the local and national government for its disaster unpreparedness and sluggish response to aid the calamity victims. Days after the catastrophe, supply of food, potable water, medicines and other relief goods still came in trickles. As soon as the first truck of supplies arrives, the evacuees scrambled and clawed at its other to get their share. The scene in most evacuation centers were utterly chaotic.

“In difficult times like this, when you cannot feel the presence of your elected officials, you feel sorry for having voted them to office”, said one disgruntled Cagay-anon.

Like us, the Japanese also suffered the same fate when a killer “tsunami”, spawned by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, hit their eastern seaboard. Thousands of people perished, thousands more were made homeless. An entire city was washed away and wiped out from the map. As the roads were impassable, it took awhile before help arrive. But there was no pointing of fingers; none of them complained. Nobody blame the government for the tragedy; much less criticize their officials for late delivery of food and supplies. They all waited, shared whatever food and water they could scavenge from the trash of debris with their neighbors. Instead of weeping for their misfortunes, they helped, consoled and comforted each another. When relief goods finally arrive, they quietly lined up in a queue, waiting patiently for their turn. They grieved for the loss of their loved ones, but at the end of the day they buried their dead, stood up, picked up the pieces and slowly rebuild their devastated borough. Government officials, as an expression of concern and sympathy to their constituents, donated part of their earnings and poured in enough funds to hasten their recovery. I do not wish to be Japanese, but I admired these people and pray that one day we can emulate the kind of culture they have,

We blame the clogged and poor drainage system for the cause of flooding in our cities and places of domicile. Yet, we continue to throw our garbage and refuse along our thoroughfares, esteros, bays and river tributaries. A person throwing a piece of candy wrapper on the street is as guilty as the one indiscriminately dumping tons of garbage in the wrong place. You can never say a small piece of chewing gum will not make a difference to our ecological system. Imagine the effect to our environment if 90,000,000 people will each throw a piece of tiny litter everywhere.

With striking similarity, we blame the former President, now Pampanga representative, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for emptying the government coffers and corrupting almost all branches of our government including the Supreme Court, our last bastion of justice. Yet, we tolerated her for so long and allowed her to remain in power for 9 years. Adding insult to injury, the people in her district- including members of the clergy - who refused to believe that she looted the country but admitted that the nation is on the brink of bankruptcy because of corruption, elected her to congress. What made the line of thinking of Pampanguenos different from that of the Filipino populace boggles my mind.

People accused the former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, of crimes against humanity, atrocities and plundering the wealth of our nation during the martial law years. In fact, we have had indefinitely kept the slogan "never again give up our democracy", and even played old newsreels to remind us of the horror of his oppressive regime. But look at his namesake, whom people elected to the senate, who will most likely run in the next presidential election. Do we really have short memories or just simply unpatriotic? Was the first EDSA people's power revolution an exercise in futility? No matter what others say that his namesake is a different breed, he will always carry the genes of his father.

It is common in our political system for the accused to point a finger at his accusers when charged with graft and corruption. More often than not, it is the whistle blower that get into trouble. He is the one being investigated and placed on the hot seat for, the accused claim, purportedly lying.

Still fresh in my mind was the statement of one high, former Comelec official involved in the ZTE NBN scandal. He admitted in public saying to Com. Romulo Neri, “may 200 ka dito sec”, but denied it’s all about commission money and if indeed it was, never clarified if it was 200 pesos, 200 thousand or 200 million. My goodness, does he really think Filipinos are that stupid?

One government official that I admire most is this late ex-general who was charged with receiving “pabaon” from the AFP. Instead of pointing a finger at his accusers, he used his pointer finger to pull the trigger of the gun that would end his own life. In Japanese they call it “Hara-kiri”. If our corrupt political leaders will only follow his example, perhaps we can rid the government of scalawags, cleanse our political system and be a great nation again. I will be more than happy to send bouquet of flowers to their wakes.

Looking back to how we downgraded from one of wealthiest nation in Asia after the Second World War to one of the poorest and backward country at present time, some superstitious individuals attributed our miseries to the myth of Manuel Quezon. He preferred a country run like hell by Filipinos to one run like heaven by Americans- Obviously, he got his wish.

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PMI COLLEGES - A WAKE UP CALL FOR THE SEAFARING INDUSTRY

By: Capt. Alvils

17,000 marine students of PMI colleges woke up one day to find their school has stopped operation. The incident stunned not only the learners but also our entire seafaring nation. No one could believe that this can happen to one of the largest (in terms of enrollees) and oldest maritime institution in the country.

Well, it did not happen overnight. It was a gradual regression of an academic system that after years of neglect and disregard of principles finally metamorphosed to the lowest level of learning. It all started when the younger generation Clomas took over the helm of the institution. As they bickered over shares of profits, they became more concern on the income rather than maintaining the standard and prestige of the school. Upgrading of new equipment were set aside, school facilities were left to deteriorate, Quality Management System (QMS) disregarded and teaching staffs were short-changed and taken for granted resulting to mass exodus of qualified instructors.

An old colleague of mine, who was once a member of the school faculty, told me horrible stories of how he was required by the management to conduct two classes in navigation all at the same time. He has to arrange the two classes to be closed together to enable him to transfer from one classroom to another.

This deplorable state of the educational system of the present PMI clearly reflected from the poor quality of its graduates. As the head of a manning agency trying to hire and inspire novice sailors, I was often distraught by their lack of even the basic knowledge in seafaring. Most of those I interviewed could not even define “navigation”; much less solve simple mathematical problems in navigation. Such learning tasks that I need to know by heart as a student lest I get the ire of my mentors and receive a severe tongue lashing or slap at the back of the head.

Readers should not get me wrong; I am a PMI alumnus. I graduated in 1967, at the time when the country was still considered the shipping power of Asia. I can vividly recall the late Capt. Roque LLanes who, at the flick of his fingers, can draw an almost perfect circle replicating the celestial sphere and its meridians, explain thoroughly the various system of coordinates and discuss to the class with clarity the art of celestial navigation. Then, there was also Chief Mate Jose Reyes (don’t know if he’s still around) who forced me to excel in the subjects of Piloting and Terrestial Navigation by giving me a failing grade in the first semester, making me the most talented repeater in his class. In retrospect, I am proud to say that without these well-knowledgeable, dedicated maritime educators of the erstwhile PMI, I wouldn’t be what I am today.

Most maritime academe experts believed that the recent decision by CHED to close down two non-complaint maritime programs of PMI colleges is not only long overdue but may just be the tip of the ice berg. If they will only search deeper underneath the surface, they will find the specter of a maritime education system that has had significantly deteriorated.

The CHED’s order to phase out the BS Marine Transportation (BSMT) and BS Marine Engineering (BSMarE) programs in PMI's Manila and Quezon City campuses on July 18, 2011 triggered protests actions from its students, school officials and supporters. They claimed that the decision was unjust and unnecessary. No one really explained to them that CHED was forced to issue the closure order – which in my opinion should have been done long time ago - to prevent the European Union (EU) from withdrawing certification rights for over 240,000 Filipino seafarers working onboard vessels registered under EU member states. Once certification is withdrawn, ships carrying Filipino seafarers will no longer be allowed to enter and dock in EU territorial waters.

“The Commission's duty is to safeguard and preserve the quality and standards of the Philippine maritime education, and maintain our country's good standing in the global seafaring community,” explained CHED. However, it took EU’s warning of imposing sanctions this coming December, 2011, before CHED would finally act on the matter.

It is noteworthy to recall that way back in March, 2006 the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) conducted an inspection on the Philippines on its possible non-compliance to the IMO’s Standard Training Watch keeping (STCW) convention. The convention is transposed into EU law on the minimum level of training of seafarers, which provides for a European system to recognize by EU member states certificates issued by third world countries. The disappointing result of inspection, which was conveyed to the then MARINA administrator, Elena Bautista (now Mrs. Elena Horn) – who obviously doesn’t know what to do with the report - reflected a serious non-compliance of the Philippines with STCW convention, particularly on the aspects of quality standard system, monitoring of maritime education and training institutions.

In April of last year, EMSA experts revisited the country and conducted inspection of the Maritime Training Council (MTC), Professional Regulation Communication (PRC), and Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and National Telecommunication Commission (NTC).

Among the maritime school inspected were the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), PMI Colleges, University of Cebu (UC), University of Visayas (UV), and the Palompon Institute of Technology (PIT).

Two training centers, in connection with the implementation of the Management Level Courses (MLC), namely: Excellence and Competency Training Center (EXACT) and the Internship Navigation Training Center (INTC) were also inspected.

Among all the maritime schools and training institutions inspected and found non-compliant from the last 2006 EMSA inspection, it was only PMI Colleges that failed to rectify its deficiencies. Hence, CHED, the regulatory body being blamed for lack of monitoring and for ignoring PMI’s repeated violations, to show to EU that they’re doing something about the negative findings, was compelled to close down the school lest it create havoc to the country’s entire seafaring industry.

But why single out PMI colleges when there are about three or four dozen more substandard maritime schools and training institutions, particularly those located in the province, that couldn’t even meet the minimum requirements of CHED (one nautical school outside metro manila even constructed a wheelhouse that can easily mock a “mock bridge”)?

In my article – “the sad state of Philippine maritime education”, I wrote that on 24 January 2007, the Filipino Association for Mariners Employment, inc. (FAME), perhaps wary of the result of EMSA inspections, conducted an assessment of maritime schools all over the country. A uniform set of assessment materials were used to test the aptitude of sophomore maritime students. The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) and PMI colleges did not participate in the assessment program, saying that they know their school well and doesn’t need anybody to tell them their standard. Perhaps, this explains why EMSA gave them a top priority inspection when it revisited the country last year.

What happened to PMI colleges is not the end but just the beginning of an uphill battle to uplift the standard of our maritime education. A complete overhauling of the system should be done. And it should start from CHED’s very own backyard. They should stop relying on the private sectors to prepare maritime course modules, outlines, frame works and do the monitoring for them. I have long been proposing to our national government to remove TESDA and MTC from the scene and create a single “Department of Maritime Affairs”, composed of Master Mariners, Chief Engineers and maritime educators, to deal with all matters pertaining to maritime academe, issuance of Certificate of Competencies (COC), oversee and implement new rules that would enhance the quality of our maritime training and education, The proposal fell on deaf ears.

Meantime, the eyes of the international shipping community are focus upon us. Considering Filipinos comprises the largest number of seafarers’ onboard foreign-trading vessels, ship owners are more concern with us than any other nationalities. But we need to show to them that we’re not only superior in numbers but also in seafaring proficiency and intellectual capability.

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FLAG OF CONVENIENCE UNRELATED TO THE ISSUE OF MV "RENA"

By: Capt. Alvils

The other day, I read a press release from a group called – International Seafarers Action Center (ISAC)Philippines Foundation, commenting about the issue of MV”Rena”, a container ship, commanded by a Filipino master, that run aground somewhere along the coast of Tauranga, New Zealand, spilling hundreds of tons of oil into the sea.

“The evils in substandard shipping and in the Flag of Convenience system used by unscrupulous ship owners”, was the introductory statement of their article. It seems that they have associated the grounding and oil pollution accident with the Flag Of Convenience (FOC), which they presumed were all substandard ships.

“Oppose the Flag of Convenience system! Ensure decent work for seafarers! Keep our seas safe!” was how they ended their news bulletin. Their real motive behind the press release boggles the mind. Was it to aid the Filipino seafarers or just run after the foreign ship owners? If their intention is to “ensure decent work for seafarers”, then what they will attain in writing such article will be the opposite. Anyway, whoever are the people involve with this group definitely need a lesson about shipping and seafaring.

I was tasked by our organization to write a response not only to counter the irresponsible statement of this group but also to prevent diverting the public’s attention on what the real issue of MV “Rena” should be. Here’s the content of my letter:

Dear Sirs,

We, the officers and members of Association of Marine Officers and Ratings (AMOR) and its political arm, 1-SEAMAN, are very much appreciative of the concerns of International Seafarers Action Center (ISAC) Philippines foundation to the welfare and working conditions of Filipino seafarers, particularly in their lambasting of the attitude of racism and racial discrimination displayed by some rightist New Zealanders towards our fellow Filipino seafarers accused of destruction of their marine environment. However, you maybe barking at the wrong tree in saying that the root of all these evils are in the Flag Of Convenience (FOC) system practiced by foreign ship owners.

Allow us to explain to you, in a manner that you will easily understand, what FOC is all about. If a Japanese, American or European ship owner wishes to purchase a vessel and have it man by Filipino crew, they cannot do so because of the crewing restrictions imposed by their own country. American flag vessels are not allowed to employ seafarers other than American nationals, so are the Japanese and other foreign countries. In fact, even Philippine flag vessels are not allowed to hire foreign seafarers. There are, however, several small countries in the world, e.g. Liberia, Panama, Isle of Man, Marshal Is., St. Kitts, among others, that encourages employment of foreign nationals provided they are properly certificated under their flag. These countries are called the Flag Of Convenience (FOC). They provide convenience to ship owners by way of cheaper registration fees, minimal documentary requirements, less red tape, lower tax payments and the privilege to hire any seafarers they want.

It is not easy for a country to operate vessels under a flag of convenience system. Offices and flag safety inspectors, surveyors need to be stationed and established all over the world, vessels has to be regularly monitored, and surveyors need to conduct onboard flag state inspections to ensure their vessels pass the scrutiny of Port State Control (PSC). Strict compliance with all IMO conventions and regulations are just one of its mandatory requirements; besides having all their vessels class under the International Association of Classification Society (IACS).

The Philippine government, at one point, contemplated on converting the country to a flag of convenience for purposes of generating revenues. It failed because majority of our country’s registered vessels were found substandard and unsafe. IACS simply refused to class our sea crafts.

Indeed, there is evil in operating substandard ships. They’re the so called “floating coffins” and the main cause of most sea accidents and disasters. But you should not equate substandard ships to Flag Of Convenience. If all FOC ships are substandard, then none of them will be allowed to sail. The PSC of every countries, tasked to regulate shipping in their own ports, are so strict with the implementation and compliance with SOLAS, MARPOL 73/78, SOPEP, ISM CODE, ISPS CODE and STCW 78 (as amended in 1995) that any ships with major violations are detained in port. Ships found to have minor deficiencies are allowed to sail and rectify their non-conformities only up to the next port of call (to be inspected again by the PSC of that port). Hence, if MV” Rena” was detained somewhere but allowed to sail to New Zealand, she must have rectified her deficiencies from last port. Moreover, even a newly built ship by a specific country of registry (not necessarily FOC), can incur a deficiency if she fails to pass the stringent inspection of PSC. So, there is really no relation between a substandard ship and FOC.

Perhaps, the above explanations have enlightened you that there is nothing wrong with the Flag Of Convenience. The Republic of Panama, which has flagged the most number of ships in the world, is the leading employer of Filipino seafarers. Therefore, if your group is really determined to address the plight of Filipino seafarers and ensure their continuous employment, you should refrain from commenting against the FOC.

What we should do instead is to confine our argument to the issue of how the New Zealanders are treating the Filipino master, Capt. Mauro Balomanga, and his Second Mate. According to the news, the two are guilty of massive pollution and destructions of their marine environment. They said it happened because of their unsafe navigational practices. “They cut corners”, the report said.

For the ordinary readers, cutting corners means shortening the ship’s travel time and distance by disregarding the way points of course lines laid down on the chart and altering ship’s heading earlier than planned, thereby decreasing the vessel’s distance from the coast. Once in awhile mariners practice “cutting corners” to save time or avoid obstructions along the intended route of the vessel. Hence, if the master did exactly that (cut corners), he must have his own reason to take such a risky maneuver; whatever it is, I am sure running his vessel aground and spilling fuel oil overboard were NOT one of them.

While the incident can be considered a vehicular accident that can happen even to the best Captains and navigating officers, they arrested and handcuffed both seafarers like a common criminal. The law says: “a person is innocent until proven guilty”. Yet, it appears the two seamen were already pre-judged as guilty even before a trial begins.

The oil spill of approximately 200 metric tons - which was nothing compared to the 114,000 metric tons spilt by Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska - from the ship’s fuel oil tank was for them already an act of “genocide”, with gigantic proportion, that can wipe out all the sea birds, mammals, creatures and the entire marine life of the coast of New Zealand. Indeed, an exaggeration, over-reaction and naïve assessment from one track-minded people.

Like what the populace did with Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, Moamar Gaddafi and other tyrants of history, majority of New Zealanders are now asking for the head of the master and his second mate, as if the two are guilty of crimes against humanity or mass-killing of their inhabitants. Do you think they can do that to American or European nationals? Of course not! They have the guts to discriminate because the seafarers involved are FILIPINOS. They know our government will not lift a finger to aid its beleaguered citizens unless the Philippine media is involved.

As of this writing, our government, particularly our DFA, has done nothing to provide any form of legal assistance or even protest this dastardly act of oppression and racism towards our own countrymen. The incident has severely demoralized our seafarers. There is a growing sentiment among our seamen that they cannot rely on our government if they ever get into trouble anywhere in the world. The common perception is that once you’re out of the country, you’re on your own.

“Sometimes you wish you’re an OCW who entered a foreign country illegally and abused by the employer or a “drug mule” out to be hanged abroad for drug trafficking before our government can take notice of your predicament”, commented one frustrated seaman.

We are now soliciting support from various sectors of the society, especially the maritime industry, to join us in lodging a nation-wide protest action to prevent Capt. Balomanga and his watch officer from being incarcerated. 12 months imprisonment should not be a penalty for a navigational error.

Yours truly,

1-SEAMAN, Party Secretary

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AMOR SEAMAN - A MESSAGE FOR THE ENTIRE MARITIME INDUSTRY

BY: Capt. Alvils

The recent announcement to introduce the party list group AMOR SEAMAN drew flaks of criticism from various individuals with selfish motives and mind sets of protecting their vested interests rather than cooperate and collaborate with the majority for the betterment of the maritime industry.

I was compelled to write and circulate to all concerned this letter addressed to one of the leaders and prime movers of the movement:

Dear Rear Admiral Don,

Congratulations! Your response to the so-called perpetual critics of the maritime industry was well written. I just hope the message went through.

I was right in saying there will be negative and violent reactions from some sectors as soon as we make such pronouncement about the group. By now, there must already be a growing perception in the maritime industry that we may have started our movement on the wrong foot. This early there’s already bickering long before we even thought of electioneering. While you gave us advise not to “fight fire with fire”, my concern is that if I keep silent, people might think that these detractors has a point in saying that we are “misled”. My friends in the industry should know me by now that I don’t usually sit over the sidelines and watch the opposing team, with crab mentalities, play their own cynical, self-serving and counter-productive game of – “If we cannot do it, nobody can and no one will be allowed to try”.

The opposition’s advices, no matter how naïve, are well taken into consideration. But they should never think they are the “learned” and have the monopoly of talent. There are too many talented people in the maritime sector and this is perhaps the reason why the industry is currently divided. They try to outdo each other; thinking that their personal opinions matters most, that they’re always right and others are always wrong.

The real motive of their negative comments boggles the mind. It keeps me wondering why they’re trying to discourage us, wanting us to give up the struggle from where they left off and failed. Does the thought that we might succeed this time gives them the creeps? Granting that we do quit, what hope is there left for the maritime industry that has continued to regress for the past decades? Have they ever consider that if majority of us will continue to ignore the call for unity we will all be ridiculed and branded by our society as an industry that has the most number of bright, highly intellectual but narrow-minded leaders?

“If you cannot be part of the solution, don’t be part of the problem”, is my unsolicited advice to these critics and detractors.

Indeed, some party list groups are now trying to address the plight of seafarers in congress. The proposal to create a “Magna Carta” for seafarers is most welcome by the Industry. But isn’t it humiliating that we have to rely on these party list groups to alleviate the deteriorating conditions of shipping and seafaring in our country? Are we really that dumb and helpless that we cannot even do it ourselves?

Moreover, these party list groups do not really understand the intricacies and complexities of shipping and seafaring. There are other pressing issues of concern that need to be addressed, review of passed laws that remains detrimental to shipping and seafaring, and other laws that need to be enacted to meet the demands of a growing industry. Obviously, only the maritime people, not the various workers party list groups, know what is best for the industry.

For the skeptics, pessimists and doomsday Sayers, here’s what I have to say:

 AMOR SEAMAN is a movement different from that of an association called “AMOR”. It was created with the sole intent of unifying the fragmented maritime Industry. If in the near future it transform into a party list group, its organizers, officers and members will not necessarily be its nominees. They will still be selected from our synergy of talented maritime professionals, prime movers, stakeholders, achievers and honorable leaders of the industry. So, if the reason for sour-grapping is the lack of chance to be a party list congressman, everyone is invited to show how good they are and present themselves for election during a nation-wide maritime assembly.

 We did not just add the name “SEAMAN”. It was the product of a careful study, long hours of deliberations and exchange of opinions. It signifies not only one voice, unity and solidarity, but also the great number (we are the number one supplier of seafarers in the world) of our working force onboard domestic and worldwide trading vessels.

 The word “SEAMAN” is a “name recall” that can easily be identified as to what sector it belongs even by a humble pedicab driver. Using acronyms, i.e. AMO, AKSI, ALON, might confuse even the ordinary seafarers, their families and the voting public. Suffice to say, the word “SEAMAN” per se can already campaign by itself.

 Of course it is easy to list down advocacies. But, if people will only review the list with open mind, they will notice that these are the real predicaments of the industry that badly need to be addressed. Let me ask them this question: would they rather not see a working plan that a group like AMOR SEAMAN intends to undertake for the sake of the industry?

 The rules in COMELEC have recently been changed since the last party list election. While it is true that party list groups spent a substantial amount of funds in the past just to accredit their group through the so called “back-door” accreditation, we were assured by credible and knowledgeable people that, under the new administration, COMELEC have now leveled up its playing field for accreditation and election of party list groups.

Besides the inspiring display of enthusiasms, interest and words of encouragement and support from seamen, major players and stakeholders of the industry and various private entities, what motivated us to create this movement was the 2009 Supreme Court ruling junking the COMELEC’s old formula of requiring 2% of the total votes cast for party list to win a seat in congress.

There will now be 2 rounds of allocating seats for party list. The following is a quoted article pertaining to this issue:

“In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional this formula, as written in RA 7941, also known as the Party-List System Act. Consequently, the SC formulated a new system of distributing party-list seats in Congress:

 20% of all seats in the Lower House are allocated to sectoral representatives (meaning, the number of party-list Congressmen is now equal to 20% of the total number of district representatives)

 The party-lists that garnered at least 2% of the total number of votes are guaranteed one seat. This is called the first round.

 If the total number of party-list representatives after the first round does not reach the allocated number of seats for sectoral representatives, a formula based on the % of votes garnered would determine which winning party-lists would get more seats. This process would repeat until the 20% (of the total number district representatives) seats in the lower house is attained”.

In the last 2010 party list election, AGHAM, garnering the least number of votes among the winners, won a seat with only 146,032 votes. Unfortunately, the votes for the 3 competing maritime party list groups (counting the disqualified UFS), combined together, did not even hit the 100 K mark.

Our call for unity is sincere with no strings attached. If we can only set aside our personal ambitions and agree to a common goal of supporting a unified organization, the maritime sector can be a power to reckon with. As they say in Filipino, “malakas ang walis pagkat bigkis-bigkis”

Finally, despite my position as Secretary of AMOR SEAMAN, it was never my ambition to run for congress. I have always believed that there are more qualified and talented people in the maritime industry than me. Albeit I have one dream – to improve the quality of life of all Filipino seafarers, unite and uplift the industry where my sons, grandson and I belong; then leave a legacy in shipping that will long be remembered.

Yours truly,


Capt. Alvils
Secretary General, AMOR SEAMAN

FICTITIOUS SEA SERVICE RECORD - TAMPERING OF SEAMAN'S BOOK

By: Capt. Alvils

A great number of domestic ship owners and ship management companies are now engaged in the illegal selling of faked sea service to marine (deck and Engine) graduates desperate to show proof that they’ve already been to sea.

This ‘modus operandi’ (Sea Service for Sale) in domestic shipping has now become one of the most lucrative business of both operators and managers of coastwise-trading vessels. They operate with impunity; for ages they have defied the checking and monitoring by any government agencies.

For marine graduates to complete their BS curriculum, they offer the following rates:

1. 12 months apprenticeship training onboard domestic trading vessels - Php 25,000

2. 12 months sea service stamp on the SIRB (without shipboard apprenticeship) – Php 6,000 – 7,000 (half of this amount is paid to the master)

In item (1), CHED requires a marine graduate to have a Training Record Book (TRB) and 12 months sea experience onboard sea-going vessels of 500 GRT or more to qualify for the BS curriculum. In some cases, just to collect the training fees, they assigned trainees to tug boats or smaller size vessels and after sailing for several months, issue a sea service under a vessel over 500 GRT or larger; anti-dating the joining date to complete the 12 months service period.

In item (2), bogus service record is stamped on their individual SIRB. The purpose is similar to item (1). However, this is easily discovered once an applicant undergoes formal interview. They can not even remember the trade of vessel, ports of call, cargoes it carried, much less the name of master who signed their seaman’s book. After repeated questioning, they always confessed paying for their sea service.

Unfortunately, manning agencies like us and most especially the US embassy are now aware of these clandestine operations. So much so that, once caught the future of these young seafarers are place in serious jeopardy.

The US embassy recently issued warning that they will sanction and penalize any manning/shipping companies caught applying US C1D visa for seafarers with fake service records. Hence, no manning agency would take the risk of hiring them for world-wide trading vessels.

Sad to say, considering this is now a common practice in domestic shipping, it has become difficult for anyone to determine whether a seafarer has really served onboard inter-island vessels. The standard of training, coupled by questionable service record, is too poor that a supposedly well-experienced Able Bodied seaman (AB) could not pass the qualifying exam for an Ordinary Seaman (OS) on world-wide trading ships. In the same manner that an OIC licensed officer (I wonder how they pass the PRC licensure exam) could not even qualify for an AB position in overseas trade.

MARINA, PRC and other government agencies should crack down on these ship owners and managers selling false service record to neophyte sailors. Instead of helping them secure an overseas assignment, the opposite will happen. The fictitious service record they bought will actually ruin their seafaring career.

Likewise, any master (captain) caught signing a seaman’s book with falsified service record should have its license suspended, if not revoked.

Meantime, MARINA and PRC should undertake stiffer measures to completely eradicate this selling of sea service in domestic shipping. In addition to service records and entries to the seaman’s book, domestic trading seafarers must also be required to present an SSS deductions/contributions and crew lists from the time of joining to their time of disembarkation. Masters must also be required to execute an affidavit attesting to the authenticity of the entries to the seaman’s book, under threat of suspension or revocation of licenses if found guilty of falsification of sea service record.

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