Marina officials face raps for being rude to seafarers

Officials of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) are facing criminal and administrative complaints over their alleged abusive behavior towards seafarers applying for a certificate of competency.
 
In a complaint recently filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Jose Erwin Motin, who identified himself as an instructor of maritime law and a private consultant for Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), said evaluators from the Marina-Certification Division, namely Arthur Minion and Rommel Espedilla, must be held criminally liable for violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
 
He said he filed the complaint on behalf of two seafarers whom he did not name as they were supposedly fearful of retaliation.
 
Motin said that based on the accounts of the two seafarers, the respondents treated them rudely when they were applying for certificate of competency, which was a requirement for their employment application abroad.
 
Minion and Espedilla allegedly called the applicants “liars” and ordered them to leave the office. The respondents also allegedly threatened the two seafarers with the revocation of their licenses.
 
Motin said Minion and Espedilla must also be held administratively liable for violating Marina’s procedures by deliberately delaying the processing of documents submitted by the two seafarers, which resulted in the cancellation of their employment opportunities abroad.
 
Motin pointed out that based on the operating procedures of Marina, applications with incomplete supporting documents must be turned over to the agency's Legal Division.
 
Motin said that until now, several documents submitted by the two seafarers, including their contracts of employment, remain pending with the office of the respondents.
 
Motin further alleged that many documents submitted by other applicants remain pending and unprocessed at the respondents’ office.
 
“Maraming papeles ang nakatambak sa kanilang custody. We were surprised that (after) two weeks…the documents were still in the custody [of respondents],” Motin said.
 
Motin also asked the Office of the Ombudsman to issue a preventive suspension order against the respondents while the complaint is being investigated. — JDS, GMA News

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

Africa roads are world’s deadliest despite few cars ---- AFP

ADDIS ABABA: Africa has the fewest roads and cars of any region, and yet the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, caused by the usual suspects — unsafe habits, speeding and drinking — but also poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars. As everywhere, speed, alcohol and not wearing a seat belt or helmet are among the main causes of death and injury, say experts. But in Africa, where there are 620 traffic deaths every day, these problems are compounded by bad roads, outdated vehicles, minimal prosecutions and a shortage of emergency services. A recent World Health Organization report found that Africa surpassed the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia — which recorded the most road deaths — with a record ratio of 19.5 people killed per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. Home to only around four percent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 percent of road deaths last year. “What is worrying is the upward trend in Africa,” said Jean Todt, a former head of the Internati...
Read more

Vietnam condemns China's 'brutal behavior' in fisher attack ---- Agence France-Presse

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's foreign ministry condemned on Wednesday China's "brutal behavior" during a violent attack on Vietnamese fishers in the disputed South China Sea. The 10 fishermen were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars' worth of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands -- an archipelago in the resource-rich waterway claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Vietnam "resolutely protests the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Hoang Sa archipelago of Vietnam", foreign ministry spokesperson Vietnam Pham Thu Hang said in a statement, using the Vietnamese term for the Paracel Islands. "The above actions of Chinese law enforcement forces seriously violated Vietnam's sovereignty" over the archipelago, the statement said. Four of the Vietnamese crew were taken to hospital on Monday...
Read more