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Volunteer Speech of Sen. Benigno "Noynoy"

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Before I begin, let me tell you about a conversation between my partner, Mar » Campaign Materials
Roxas, and Bill Gates. When Mar met with Bill Gates in California a few
years ago, Bill Gates told him that in his view, there were two industries » Tindahan Ni Noynoy
where the Philippines had the potential to be number one: information
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technology and seafaring. Do we need a Bill Gates to tell us how good we
are in seafaring? My friends, you and I know - we are number one in
seafaring.
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Our challenge today is how do we keep ourselves in this position?

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Today I know that I am not only speaking to those in the seafaring industry,
but the domestic and international shipping sectors as well. Leave your email to receive our
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In the domestic sector, everybody is talking about our very old and perhaps developments, and keep up to date
also very tired fleet of secondhand vessels coming from Japan and other on the latest news about Noynoy,
parts of the world. In many parts of the country, wooden hulled vessels are the elections, and the issues that
still used to ferry passengers even in this modern age of ours. You and I face the nation.
agree that safety is a major issue in our country today.
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If our fleet is not being modernized, perhaps we can attribute this to the fact
that investor confidence is quite low. This is compounded by a lack of
political will on the part of government to make this happen.

When tragedies happen, such as we have seen in the last two years,
causing the loss of many lives, we are told time and again that it could have
been due to a host of factors: a) an act of nature; b) the incompetence of
officers and crew, or c) the lack of enforcement of safety regulations by
either the Coast Guard or MARINA.

However, the question in our minds remains: could any of these have been
prevented? More importantly, what can we do to prevent them from
happening again in the future?

Ensuring safety is our obligation to the riding public. If we cannot prevent

sea tragedies from happening in our own country, our status in the seafaring
industry will be at risk.

The shipping companies that employ our sailors have to deal with laws
going back to the era of my grandfather, and agencies that have a tendency
to work at cross-purposes with each other.

Therefore, let me tell you, in my first 100 days, I will submit to both houses of
Congress as one of my priority bills, a new Maritime Code.

I assure you this will not reach Congress without thorough consultation and
discussions between you and our new team.

Now, let us talk about international shipping.

The question in the minds of a lot of us who do not understand your sector
is - how can an archipelagic country said to be number one in the seafaring
industry not have a very strong maritime fleet? How did there come to be
only 169 Philippine flag vessels in a sea of 45,000 vessels roaming all over
the world? Can you imagine what benefits can accrue to our country if we
had an expanded Philippine flag? To make this happen, we need to craft the
laws that will put in place policies and incentives for an environment
conducive to progress, and provide a government machinery that will be the
partner of industry rather than its obstacle in making this happen.

You will be consulted before I make any decision that will impact your
industry significantly. I hope and pray that you will be ready because we
have to work hard and fast if we are to play catch up with the rest of the
world.

Now to our seafaring community - so often called the heroes of the

Philippines - I agree with this completely - and I salute you.

The numbers show that there are 300,000 of you so well spread over the
world that every time we hear about a ship that is taken over somewhere in
Somalia, the probability of having a Filipino on board that ship is very high.

Out of the 16 billion dollars in OFW remittances that came into the
Philippines last year, around 3 billion dollars were contributed by your
sector. In order to preserve our dominance in the world as seafarers, and
sustain our growth momentum, we need to be competitive - in terms of
knowledge, technical skills and cost of deployment - with the least burden
on our seafarers.

In our country, the seafarer and the deployment agencies have to deal with
about 14 agencies of the government before they can complete their papers.
This takes countless hours of agony. Other countries have one-stop shops.
If they can do it, why can’t we?

Some quarters in your sector are suggesting that we pass a separate law
that will deal purely with the needs of the seafaring sector rather than be
covered by the Migrant Workers Act. To be honest with you, this is a
proposal that I would have to study in detail before I can assure you of my
commitment. Your thoughts as experts in this field are most welcome.

In almost every industry that I have had the opportunity to meet with,
everybody seems to be well versed about the problems as well as the
solutions to those problems. Why then are we not able to do anything about
them?

Well, in so many cases, they blame government - and maybe, rightfully so.
What I can promise you is that in my presidency, this will change.

As chief executive, I will ensure that government's regulatory powers are

used to favor the public and the progress of your industry, rather than
special interests. There will be no regulatory capture.

When there are cases such as, but God forbid, accidents or sea tragedies,
you can expect that our regulatory agencies will be fair but firm in the
implementation and enforcement of our laws. However, the main occupation
of these agencies will be to prevent such incidents from happening. If they
are found to be remiss in their duties, you can expect that swift action will be
taken on our part.

Let me make an appeal for us to work together instead of continuing the

present atmosphere of mistrust and finger pointing. We appeal to
everybody: do not pass the buck. In my presidency, the buck will stop with
me. Do your part, and I will do mine.

A few years ago, I read about this migrant worker who, after having worked
for years to ensure that his family could buy a house, his children could go
 to school, and accumulate some savings for livelihood, came home to find
that no home was bought, his children had been left unattended, and that
his wife had run off with another man. After such a homecoming, this man
committed suicide. How many other stories similar to this are there? Is this
the price that our hero, Juan Dela Cruz, has to pay to save his country? If
only we who are left at home - whether it is the deployment agency, or the
government's welfare agencies - worked together to provide support for
families to ensure that this does not happen, perhaps these cases would be
lessened, if not eliminated altogether.

In closing, let me say that I did not come here to pretend to know everything
that I need to with regard to your industry. You are the real experts here. I
am here today to listen to your concerns and share with you my views on
how we can work together to create public value and to move this industry
forward.

Thank you.

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