Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) Inc. president Gregorio S. Oca (MM, Ph. D) has rallied the cause of professional marine engineers in the country and abroad, urging them to be “proud of their chosen profession,” stressing that this has become a critically important component and to day’s “highly globalize economy.”

A message at the oath-taking ceremonies of new marine engine officers read for him by AMOSUP vice president Vice Admiral Eduardo Ma. R, Santos, who is the president of the Maritime Academy Asia and the Pacific (MAAP), at the historic landmark Manila Hotel recently, Oca said “seafarers literally move the world!” He said transportation by sea makes it possible to carry cheaply and efficiently natural resources, manufactured goods and product, and fuel to power the factories, farms and workplaces which provide jobs for millions of people through out the world.

“Being this in place, there is now an even greater need for seafarers to achieve an even higher level of professionalism in their work. Mastery of the essential technical aspects of your work has now become more crucial to achieve safety, security and quality in vessel operations. But beyond technical competence, it has been my experience that true professionalism means having the correct attitudes and values which will prepare you for global leadership. It is how you conduct your own individual affairs and the personal practice of your profession that people will always know and remember you by,” Oca a veteran marine educator, told the new marine professionals.

“As I have said on many occasions, I realized early in life certain core values that later guided my professional career and even shaped my own personal life. Looking back, I owe a great part of my professional achievements and successful undertakings to the values ‘of discipline, loyalty, honesty, honor and integrity,’ which I learned while working at sea, and from dealing with all kinds of people at the waterfront, where a handshake is often more binding than a written contract,” he said, stressing that” of this values, I consider ‘loyalty’ to be critically important in our profession today. For loyalty is one of the defining characters of a Filipino seafarer. It is the hallmark of a true maritime officer.”

He said it is important to consider that all seafarers – whether officers or ratings alike – by the physical demands and the technical nature of their work, is such a tremendous human resource that should be tapped and constantly developed. This means that given certain conditions and fulfilling certain requirements, ratings could be developed, qualified and licensed as Third Officers and Fourth Engineers. In the same way, OIC level officers should be developed, qualified and licensed to become management level officers. In other words, the seafaring profession must offer clear and effective ways for career advancement, to be able to harness this tremendous human resource potential.

“And this regard, he said he told the new marine officers that as many of you may have personally experienced, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has been conducting the computerized walk-in licensure examination system or “WES” for marine deck and engine officers since 2006. In the last quarter of 2006, four PRC WES facilities were completed through private sector assistance. The All-Japan Seamen’s Union, an affiliate of AMOSUP, through the JSU Welfare Fund, financed the development of the WES facilities in the PRC Regional Offices in Cebu, Iloilo and Davao. With PRC approval, the MAAP Professional Career Development Center (PCDC) at the Seamen’s Center Annex Building in Intramuros, was also designated as the only off-site facility for the WES. These WES facilities have a combined capacity of 154 workstations, with an additional 30 at the PRC Head Office in Manila.”

Based on data monitored by AMOSUP, there were 969 WES examinees from July 2008 to June 2009. Of this figure, more than half or 59% took the OIC and Management Level engine officers examinations. Out of the 574 who took the engine officers examinations during this one-year period, 346 or about 60.2% passed the WES, clearly showing more needs to be done in order to maximize utilization of the WES facilities to become an effective means of professionalizing the career of Filipino seafarers. Beginning March of 2009, the PRC supervised AMOSUP PCDC testing center regularly administered the WES for deck and engine to 20 examinees per week with a cumulative passing rate of about 80% to 85%. For the Cebu and Iloilo facilities, it was observed that only 5 to 10 examinees per week register and take the examinations through the WES. The Davao facility has even less examinees who register – less than 5 take the examinations every week since it commenced operations in March 2009, Oca succinctly noted.