President Marcos Jr. on Wednesday directed the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) to update its policies and practices of the maritime industry to make it at par with global standards.
The President issued the directive at the presentation by Marina administrator Sonia Malaluan of the Maritime Industry Development Plan 2028 (MIDP 2028) which aims to build a stronger and more reliable Philippine Merchant Fleet, and address the sea requirements of the country in support of the national development agenda.
Malaluan said among the core programs of the MIDP 2028 are the modernization and expansion of the Philippine domestic shipping; promotion and expansion of the Philippine overseas shipping; modernization of the Philippine shipbuilding and ship repair industry and; promotion of highly skilled Filipino and competitive maritime workforce.
Marcos, in a social media post yesterday said the MIDP 2028 is being finalized to make sure that it prioritizes the well-being of Filipino seafarers.
“Upon its immediate completion, we will guarantee effective project implementation and the international recognition for our seafarers’ qualifications,” he added.
The President, at Wednesday’s meeting, raised that many of current rules and operations in the maritime industry are obsolete due to the lack of a unified system governing the industry, which makes it “imperative to first provide a standardized system in accordance with international systems before the proposed programs could be implemented”.
“These are all promotion, modernization but let us standardize first our systems and at the same time we undertake this, like promotion of highly skilled Filipino maritime workforce. (On) ship building and ship repair, we haven’t done much to promote that. The rest are for further development,” he said.
“So let’s standardize our practices so that we will be the same with our international counterparts. We have to fix our house first. Because we have to compete and in order to do that, we should have an even playing field and then we should gain an advantage,” Marcos added.
The President also noted the high cost of shipping in the country such that it is cheaper to ship cargos to the Philippines from abroad like Hong Kong than to do ship from Manila to General Santos City.
Malaluan, in response, said among the reasons for the more expensive domestic shipping are the vessel size, vessel quality and the imposition of excise tax on fuel.
She said vessels with international routes are bigger and enjoy economies of scale that reduce travel cost and fares. Ships that travel internationally also are not subject to excise tax on their fuel unlike domestic ships that carry the burden of additional tax on fuel.
Marina also raised the quality of vessels as many fleets are old and inefficient. There is also a lack of interest from investors to put money in the local shipping industry.
The agency also raised the need to update the current maritime policies as the government still allows 20-year old passenger ships to operate, and 25-year old vessels to haul freight.
