Further to Memorandum Circular No. 12, series of 2009, the following amendatory guidelines are hereby issued for the purpose of providing additional training for all departing seafarers as an intervention to address piracy-related issues:

1. All manning agencies shall require their seafarers to undergo training on practical measures to avoid, deter, or delay piracy attacks prior to deployment. The training module shall be submitted by agencies to POEA for approval. This training shall be separate and in addition to the regular Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS) conducted for departing seafarers. A duplicate copy of the certificate of attendance to the anti-piracy awareness training (copy of standard certificate attached^* ) shall be submitted to POEA or a list of all the trainees shall be submitted to POEA each month indicating the name, date of training, name of company (in case training is done in behalf of another manning company) for which the training was undertaken and the corresponding number of certificate issued.

Agencies availing themselves of in-house processing shall submit the attached format of undertaking signed by the agency in behalf of its principal stating that the seafarers they deploy comply with the above requirement.

2. All departing seafarers shall be required to attend the anti-piracy awareness training regardless of the vessels ™ trade routes. The training shall be provided free to seafarers.

3. Manning agencies shall submit to POEA the names of trainors authorized to conduct the training program.

4. The anti-piracy training shall be conducted in-house by manning agencies . Manning agencies which cannot conduct an in-house anti-piracy training may avail of the training provided by other manning agencies whose training module has been approved by POEA.

5. Violation made by the manning agency and/or the foreign principals on these guidelines shall be a ground for the imposition of appropriate sanctions under the POEA Rules and Regulations.

6. In accordance with Part V, Rule V, Sec. 1, C.8 of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Seafarers, manning agencies not complying with these guidelines shall be meted the following sanctions:

1st offense    -    reprimand
2nd offense   -    suspension of license (one month to three months)
3rd offense    -    suspension of license (three months and one day to six months)
4th offense    -    cancellation of license

All previous issuances inconsistent with this Circular are hereby deemed amended.

This Circular shall take effect (15) days after publication.

Adopted: 29 Jan. 2010

(SGD.) JENNIFER JARDIN-MANALILI
Administrator

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^* Text Available at Office of the National Administrative Register, U.P. Law Complex, Diliman, Quezon City