President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Transportation to develop a maritime industry development plan to boost the economy and provide jobs. The plan will enhance ports to attract more cruise ships and tourism. Marcos also directed the Maritime Industry Authority to address issues in maritime schools and upgrade their competencies to international standards to maintain the country as a top supplier of seafarers. The Department of Transportation and Maritime Industry Authority will update the latter's 10-year Maritime Industry Development Plan for the President's approval.

1. Gov’t drawing up maritime industry
development plan

2. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered
the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to
develop the maritime and aviation sectors to
boost the country’s economy and provide
jobs for Filipinos, according to Officer-in-
Charge Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil.

3. Marcos directed the DOTr to draw up a “maritime industry development plan” that will develop
and enhance the maritime sector and improve ports to attract more cruise ship visits that will
help boost the tourism industry, Garafil said in a press conference on October 11

4. She said these orders were given by the President at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday,
where DOTr presented its programs. Garafil noted transportation is one of the priority
sectors of the administration.

5. She said Marcos also directed the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to
address issues on maritime schools, including ship boarding requirements of
maritime students.

6. He ordered MARINA to upgrade the competencies of Maritime
Schools And Trainings “to give students advantage and put them
to international standards” to ensure the country remains the
top supplier of seafarers worldwide.

7. DOTr Undersecretary for Maritime Elmer Francisco Sarmiento told PortCalls in a text
message that DOTr and MARINA will be updating the latter’s 10-year Maritime Industry
Development Plan (MIDP), which will “be approved ultimately by the President.”

8. In a separate statement, MARINA said it has
committed to the President the updating of
its MIDP and its alignment to the
administration’s 8-Point Priority Economic
Agenda.

9. MARINA’s MIDP 2019-2028 – initially
launched in 2017 and updated last
year – is a decade-long roadmap
aimed at accelerating the
development of a nationally
integrated and globally competitive
Philippine maritime industry.

10. The MIDP 2019-2028 is the first comprehensive effort to understand and address the Philippine
maritime sector’s core problem and its underlying causes in order to plan and implement
programs that better meet the demands of the maritime industry, successfully address key
challenges, and lead to seizing of opportunities in both Domestic And Global Arenas.

11. Under Presidential Decree No. 474 (Maritime Industry Decree of 1974), the maritime
agency should create master plans for the industry. The last 10-year roadmap drawn
up by MARINA was in the 1980s.

12. Marcos also ordered a review of unsolicited project proposals for existing airports and to
build new ones in various areas of the country.

13. DOTr had earlier said it eyeing private sector participation in rehabilitating NAIA.

14. On October 10, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista told media forum that nine
ongoing regional airport projects worth close to P1 trillion are set for completion in
2023. He said there are 10 other regional airports that the DOTr plans to upgrade,
expand, and operate under the public-private partnership scheme, as well as four regional
airports that the agency plans to build. – Roumina Pablo

15. For more information about Phillipines Ports and Shipping, visit
https://www.picsi.com.ph/