RECEIVED “24
pare OCT 2 3 2019

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

__ Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez

S222

House Bill No.
EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Philippines is a Party to the following five safety conventions:
1. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974
2. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
3. The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea
4. The International Convention on Load Lines
5. The International Convention on the Tonnage Measurement of Ships

Despite being signatories to these Intemational Conventions, the Philippines has no national
law that would fully implement the provisions of these conventions.

Hence this bill which appoints MARINA as the government agency tasked to fully and
effectively implement these conventions. This bill also aims to ensure that the Philippines is
compliant with our commitments to International Law.

In view of the foregoing, immediate passage of this measure is earnestly requested

RYFUS B. RODRIGWEZ .


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

__ Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez _
5222

House Bill No.

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR A MARITIME CODE FOR THE FULL AND EFFECTIVE
IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL MARITIME
INSTRUMENTS OF WHICH THE PHILIPPINES IS A STATE-PARTY, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Maritime Safety, Security and
Prevention of Ship-Sourced Pollution Act of the Philippines.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — The following are hereby declared to be the policies of the
State:
a. The State shall provide for the full and effective implementation and enforcement of
intemational maritime instruments that cover safety of life, at the sea, prevention of pollution
from ships, load lines, tonnage measurements of ships, and regulations for preventing
collisions at sea, and of which the Philippines is a state-party, to wit
1. The Intemational Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 and its
Protocols of 1978 and 1988 and agreement of 1996 (SOLAS 74);
2. The Intemational Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
1973, its Protocol of 1978 and its Protocol of 1997
3. The Convention on the international Regulations for Preventing Collisions at
Sea 1972 (COLREGS),
4. The International Convention on Load Lines 1966 and its Protocol of 1988, as
amended in 2003 (LOAD LINES);
5. The International Convention on the Tonnage Measurement of Ships 1969
(TONNAGE); and
6. All other international instruments, codes, recommendations, procedures and
guidelines implementing or applying these Conventions]
b. The State shall provide for a platform for the adoption of regulations implementing the
technical annexes, provisions and requirements of these Conventions as well as future
amendments to such technical provisions and requirements as the State Parties to these
Conventions may adopt from time to time;

c. The State shall comply its duties and obligations to the international community as State
Party to these Conventions by ensuring the effective exercise of its jurisdiction and contro!
over ships flying its flag, and that those who are responsible for the ownership, management
and operation of a ship registered in the Philippines operate their ships responsibly; and

d. The State shall provide a mechanism for the full and effective implementation of port state
control guidelines as provided by regional memoranda, by which it may consistently carry
out its obligation to conduct [port State control] inspections on ships of other States, whether


parties to the Instruments or not, when these are within the waters, ports, harbors and
offshore terminals of the Philippines.

SEC. 3 Scope of the Act. — Unless otherwise indicated, this Act shall apply to:

(a) All merchant marine ships, whether seagoing or coastwise, which are registered
under Philippine flag;

(b) Alll persons, partnerships, corporations, firms or other entities duly registered or
licensed in the Philippines to engage in the business of shipping as ship owners,
ship operators, charterers, or ship managers, or those acting on their behalf;

(c) All foreign ships that are within the waters, ports, harbours and offshore terminals
of the Philippines regardless of whether or not they are registered in or belong to
State Parties to the Conventions sought to be implemented by this Act.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. - Unless otherwise provided, the following terms shall

have the meanings hereinafter set forth
(a) INTERNATIONAL MARITIME INSTRUMENTS SHALL REFER TO
(b) COLREGS SHALL REFER TO THE CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL
REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA 1972;

(c) CONVENTIONS SHALL COLLECTIVELY REFER TO THE CONVENTIONS
BEING IMPLEMENTED BY THIS ACT, PARTICULARLY, SOLAS 74, MARPOL
73/78 COLREGS, LOAD LINE, AND TONNAGE CONVENTIONS;

(d) DFA SHALL REFER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS;

(e) DOTR SHALL REFER TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION;

(f) IMO SHALL REFER TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION;

(g) LOAD LINES SHALL REFER TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON

LOAD LINES 1966 AND ITS PROTOCOL OF 1988, AS AMENDED IN 2003;

(h) MARINA SHALL REFER TO THE MARITIME INDUSTRY AUTHORITY
CREATED UNDER PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 474 AS AMENDED;
MARPOL 73/78 SHALL REFER TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
FOR THE PREVENTION OF
POLLUTION FROM SHIPS, 1973, ITS PROTOCOL OF 1978 AND FS
PROTOCOL OF 1997;

(@) PCG SHALL REFER TO THE PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD ESTABLISHED
UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9993;

(k) RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATION SHALL REFER TO AN ORGANIZATION
RECOGNIZED BY THE MARINA IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RELEVANT
GUIDELINES OF THE IMO ON RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATIONS;

() SOLAS 74 SHALL REFER TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE
SAFETY OF LIFE AT SEA, 1974 AND ITS PROTOCOLS OF 1978 AND 1988,
AND AGREEMENT OF 1996;

(m) TONNAGE SHALL REFER TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE
TONNAGE MEASUREMENT OF SHIPS 1969 (TONNAGE);

@

SEC. 5. Powers and functions of the MARINA. — For purposes of this Act, the MARINA
shall have the following powers and functions which shall be in addition to its mandate under
Presidential Decree No. 474 and Executive Orders Nos. 125 and 125-A series of 1987 as
amended:

(a) Act as the single and central maritime administration, and exercise all powers
and functions relative to the compliance with, and effective implementation and
enforcement of, the following international] Conventions of the IMO-

SOLAS 74;

MARPOL 73/78 .
COLREGS;

LOAD LINES;

TPMMAGE, and

@RONa


6. All other international instruments, codes, recommendations, procedures, and
guidelines implementing or applying these Conventions.

(b) Prescribe, fix, issue, revise, amend, update or repeal rules and regulations from
time to time to ensure the full and effective implementation and enforcement of
the [international] Conventions set forth in letter (a) of this section;

(c) Issue, amend, suspend, revoke or cancel any and all ship certificates required by
the Conventions;

(d) Exercise jurisdiction over all ships in the Philippine registry and alll attendant
powers and functions relative to the issuance, verification, amendment,
suspension, revocation or cancellation of relevant ship certificates and all other
matters pertaining to the implementation and enforcement of the Conventions;

(e) Determine the minimum standards and requirements, and issue rules and
regulations applicable to particular types of ships, considering their size, type,
motive capacity, trading limits and other physical and technical attributes without
diluting the minimum requirements of the Conventions;

(f) Determine which ships shall be excluded or exempted from the coverage of
relevant regulations and establish equivalent technical standards where it is
determined that by virtue of the ship's size, type, motive capacity, of trading
limits, it would be more practicable to require the implementation of such
equivalent standards, without compromising the safety of the ship, its crew,
passengers and cargo, and without exposing the marine environment to the tisk
‘of damage from ship-sourced pollution;

(g) provide regulations for, and undertake, initial and periodic inspections and
surveys of all ships in the Philippine registry regardless of trading limits;

(h) where applicable, inspect and certify or delegate the authority to inspect and
certify through a written formal agreement setting forth the extend of the
delegated authority to allow for the initial and periodic inspections, surveys and
certification of ships in the Philippine registry to the PCG or to a duly accredited
recognized organization;

() assess and determine the qualification of any recognized organization, execute
the corollary written agreement to evidence the terms and conditions by which
such recognized organization shail act on its behalf and the extent of the powers
delegated to such recognized organizations carrying out initial and periodic
inspections and surveys, including the capacity to issue ship certificates on its
behaff.

() Require the master, or in his absence, the owner, charterer, manger or operator
to submit, without delay, a full written report of any incident involving the ship that
may endanger the safety of the ship, the crew, passengers, or cargo, or pose a
threat to the marine environment;

(k) Following any marine casualty, accident or incident involving a ship in the
Philippine registry, undertake on its own or through a duly constituted
independent group of suitably qualified safety inspectors, a marine casualty
safety investigation which is independent from any other form of investigation and
is not intended to apportion blame or determine liability but is conducted to
determine the cause of the accident and the identification of measures to prevent
the occurrence of similar marine casualties, accidents or incidents in the future

() Institute amendments to its regulations to enhance the safety and security of
ships, persons, and property and the protection of the marine environment
following receipt of any recommendation arising from the marine safety
inspection report;

(m)Receive the report of any violation from another State and conduct any other

westigation on a ship in the Philippine registry to protect public interest and

impose such penalties, sanctions, and levy such fines commensurate to the
gravity of the offense to ensure effective implementation, compliance and



enforcement of the Conventions and upon completion of the investigation, inform
the State submitting the report of the action taken to address the violation;

(n) Provide for the policy framework and relevant regulations for the inspection of
foreign merchant marine ships while in the waters, ports, harbours and offshore
terminals of the Philippines, including the inspection of ship certificates, the
manner by which further inspection shall be carried out, and the documentation of
clear grounds if the condition of the ship should pose a threat to the safety of the
ship, its crew, passengers and cargo, and expose the marine environment to risk
of damage from ship-sourced pollutions;

(0) In accordance with the mandate of the Philippine Coast Guard under Republic
Act No. 9993, deputize the Philippine Coast Guard to carry out port State control
inspections on foreign merchant marine, ships which enter the waters, ports,
harbours and offshore terminals of the Philippines in accordance with the port
State control rules and regulations issued to fully implement the Conventions;

(p) Provide for the policy framework and relevant regulations and members to ensure
that the inspection of foreign merchant marine ships which enter the waters,
ports harbors and offshore terminals of the Philippines are completed with
dispatch and no undue delay or detention occurs arising from the enforcement of
any provision of the Conventions;

(a) In case of violation by a foreign merchant marine ship, provide the flag registry of
such ship with information and evidence that maybe in its possession regarding
the violation that has occurred and any other State that may be affected by such
violation;

(nf) Actas the designated point of contact for all matters related to the IMO; and

(s) Exercise such other powers and functions necessary to fully implement the
Conventions.

When creating procedures, rules and regulations, the MARINA shall always be
guided by relevant conventions, instruments, codes, recommendations, and guidelines of the
IMO.

SEC. 6. Power to adopt Regulations top Conform to Amendments to International
Maritime Conventions. — The MARINA with the concurrence of the Department’ of
Transportation (DOT?) through the Secretary, shall recommend to DFA the adoption of
intemational maritime conventions WHICH THE PHILIPPINES IS NOT YET PARTY TO so
that the appropriate recommendation can be made, and the relevant instrument of
ratification OR ACCESSION MAY BE issued by the President and the concurrence of the
Senate of the Philippines may be obtained; Provided, that in the case of any subsequent
amendment to any technical annex of any existing international convention or treaty to which
the Philippines is already a party and which is deemed accepted by the State Parties to the
convention after the lapse of the specified time, the MARINA, is hereby empowered and
authorized to amend and revise its rules and regulations to conform with the amendments to
the relevant convention or treaty without need of further legislative or executive
authorization.

SEC. 7. COORDINATION AMONG REGULATORY AGENCIES. - The Secretary of
Transportation shall direct, oversee and document the creation, maintenance and
management of the appropriate coordinative framework and structure among all government
agencies mandated by law to supervise and regulate all parties referred to in section 2 of
this act in order to ensure the harmonized implementation and enforcement of the
conventions covered in this act. For this purpose, the Secretary of Transportation shall issue
relevant regulations, orders, processes and procedures within sixty (60) days from the
effective date of this Act, which regulations may be amended from time to time as needed.
The issuance of the Secretary of Transportation shall give special attention to clearly
identifying the processes and procedures to be followed by the different regulatory agencies,


considering each agency's mandate, technical competence and expertise, and
organizational structure and capabilities for carrying out the Philippines’ obligations under
the conventions. The Secretary of Transportation shall further clarify functions and tasks
which require:

(a) execution directly by the agency;

(b) execution indirectly by an agency acting on behalf of another;

(c) coordination of several agencies by lead agency;

(d) cooperation by agencies acting independently of each other, or

(e) monitoring and reporting to another agency
The Secretary of Transportation, as needed, shall coordinate with other executive
departments whose line or attached agencies likewise exercise relevant functions or provide
technical services that ensure the safety of the ship, its crew, passengers and cargo and the
protection of the marine environment, such as the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and
Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) under the Department of Science and
Technology, and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) under
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, among others.

SEC. 8. Reorganization of the MARINA. — To ensure the proper implementation and
enforcement of the Convention, the Maritime Industry Board is hereby authorized to
reorganize the MARINA and create such additional offices and positions necessary to
address the requirements of the Convention. For this purpose, Presidential Decree No. 474
creating the MARINA and Executive Order s Nos 125 and 125-A series of 1987 are hereby
amended accordingly.

SEC. 9. Appropriations. - The Secretary of Transportation through the MARINA, shall
immediately include in its programs the operationalization requirements of the services
created for the effective implementation of the Conventions, the initial funding of which shall
be charged against the savings or current year's appropriations of the Authority. Thereafter,
such sums as may be necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SEC. 10. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The MARINA shall issue the
implementing rules and regulations for each of the Conventions within six (6) months from
the effectivity of this Act.

SEC. 11. Transitory Provisions. — All ship certificates issued prior to be effectivity of this
Act shall be deemed valid and effective without necessity of revalidation or reissuance until
the respective dates of expiration as stated in such certificates unless sooner revoked for
cause by the MARINA. Thereafter, new certificates shall be issued in accordance

With the implementing rules and regulations issued pursuant to this Act, in conformity with
the requirements of the relevant Convention

SEC. 12. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section, subsection, clause or items
of this Act is held to be illegal, invalid, or unconstitutional, such parts not affected by such
declaration shall remain in full force and effect. a

SEC. 13. Amendatory Clause. - The provisions of the Presidential Decree No. 474 and
Executtive Order No. 125 and 125-A series of 1987 which are otherwise inconsistent with the
Provisions of this Act are hereby amended or repealed. All existing laws, orders, decrees,
rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
amended, modified or repealed accordingly.

SEC. 14 Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,