Recruitment of seafarers at Rizal Park illegal -- POEA

Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac yesterday reiterated that all recruitment activities at Rizal Park are deemed illegal without the special recruitment authority (SRA) issued by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Cacdac said that under the Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers, a licensed recruitment or manning agency cannot engage in recruitment activities in places other than that specified in the license without previous authorization from the POEA. “Because of reported hiring malpractices, the POEA stopped in May 2009 the issuance of SRA to manning agencies, and ordered those occupying booths managed by Luneta Seafarers’ Welfare Foundation, Inc. (LUSWELF) at Rizal Park to end their recruitment activities or face administrative sanctions,” Cacdac said. According to Cacdac, the POEA had already suspended the license of 12 manning agencies and ordered them to pay appropriate fines for recruiting seafarers in the areawithout the SRA. SRA is the authority granted by the POEA to a licensed agency to conduct recruitment outside the registered office or address stated in the license of an agency or its acknowledged additional office(s). Over the years, seafarers looking for jobs in foreign vessels converge in that part of Rizal Park near the National Library in T.M. Kalaw Street because of its proximity to most of the licensed manning agencies in Ermita and Intramuros. The Associated Marine Officers and Seaman’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) had the idea of converting the place into a center where seafarers coming from the provinces can have a place to stay in Manila while looking for a job or waiting toboard a ship. The idea later evolved into a center wherein information about seafaring can be discussed or posted. AMOSUP later transferred the management of the center to LUSWELF. The POEA became part of the center in 2007 through a memorandum of agreement with LUSWELF by conducting orientation seminars and distribution of information materials. LUSWELF later rented out booths to manning agencies which wanted to recruit seafarers in the area. Consequently, the POEA issued SRAs to legalize the recruitment activities of the agencies. In April 2009, the Joint Manning Group, a conglomeration of several associations of manning agencies issued a resolution enjoining their members to pull out of the LUSWELF area because the objectives of the center were no longer met. Cacdac advises seafarers to file their applications directly with manning agencies in their registered office address, which can be found in the POEA website poea.gov.ph.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more