Crisis in Marine Engineering Licensing in the Philippines Continues

In the current crisis of the Marine Engineer Officers Association of the Philippines (MEOAP), a top official of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) said that industry leaders have stepped in to help in resolve the problem.

Both Filipino Association for Mariners’ Employment (FAME) and Joint Manning Group (FMG) addressed their concerns on Filipino marine engineers and their Accredited Professional Association or APO.

The industry leaders were surprised when they found out that non-marine engineers are running MEOAP. The group where referring to the association’s secretariat Mr. and Mrs. Ernesto Malbog.

The Malbogs have already filed graft charges against members of the PRC Board of Marine Engineer Officers (BMEO) as MEOAP had been excluded in the regular oath taking ceremonies for newly licensed marine engineers. The collection of fee for the oath taking has been cited by the Malbogs as grounds for the violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law.

Another issue also raised by the group was the alleged misallocation of the member’s money collected through membership dues as well as the issue of using improper receipts.

PRC Chairperson Teresita Mazala however was confident that the problems within the MEOAP will be resolved.

The chairperson said, “We are confident MEOAP continues to serve the best interest of the marine engineers. We regard that MEOAP as partner and an ally in our mandate to develop the marine engineer’s profession.”

BMEO however has written PRC to ask for the suspension of the resolution that requires the automatic membership of the marine engineer to the APO which includes automatic payments on membership and dues.