Marino: Inter-agency body must submit progress reports
Credit to Author: RAFFY AYENG| Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2019 15:09:29 +0000
PARTYLIST group Marino has ordered the inter-agency body formed by President Rodrigo Duterte to submit quarterly reports to the House committees on transportation and overseas workers affairs as part of the country’s preparations for the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Member-State Audit Scheme (Imsas).
In his House Resolution 71, issued in the first regular session of the 18th Congress, Marino Partylist Rep. Carlo Lisandro Gonzalez said the body was required to hand over reports on the “efforts of national government agencies involved in the implementation of the applicable IMO instruments relating safety of life at sea, prevention of pollution from ships, standards of training, certification and watch keeping for seafarers, load lines, tonnage measurement of ships, and regulations for preventing collisions at sea.”
He told the body that the “adoption of rules and regulations implementing the provisions of IMO instruments, progress of implementation of the National Work Program to ensure that the international obligations as a flag, port and coastal state are fully satisfied, among other reports that may be required from time to time.”
The body, created by Duterte’s Executive Order 84 on July 2, is led by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade as chairman and Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) Officer in Charge Narciso Vingzon as vice chairman. Members are representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority and Cebu Port Authority.
“To ensure strict and full compliance with the commitments and obligations of the Philippines as a member-state of the IMO, both at the policy and technical levels, there is a need to carefully plan, manage, direct, coordinate and monitor the corresponding efforts of relevant national government agencies and instrumentalities,” the order said.
The body is assisted by a technical working group (TWG) responsible for providing support on specific matters concerning the Imsas. This group is composed of representatives from various agencies that include the Commission on Higher Education, Environmental Management Bureau and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
The Philippines will undergo the Imsas in 2021 and every seven years thereafter.
Imsas seeks to assess the level of implementation and enforcement of the provisions of mandatory IMO instruments pertaining to safety of life at sea; prevention of pollution from ships; standards of training, certification, and watchkeeping for seafarers; load lines; tonnage; and regulations to prevent collisions at sea.
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