Palace: US firms eyeing to hire 75-K Pinoy seafarers

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) holds the first 2023 oath taking ceremony for marine deck and engineer officers at the AMOSUP Convention Hall in Intramuros, Manila, March 23, 2023. (Photo courtesy of MARINA)/FILE

By Alec Go

American firms are planning to hire 75,000 Filipino seafarers in the next three to four years, Malacañang said Thursday, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s meeting with Carnival Corp. President and CEO John Padget.

In a statement, Palace said Padget praised the hospitality and competitiveness of the Filipino workforce abroad. 

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the marine, deck, hospitality, restaurant…everything is based on the happiness, the smile, and the greatness of the Filipino employees,” Padget, who also represents Carnival Cruise Line, Holland American Airlines and Seaborn, said.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. joins in a Meet and Greet with Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople and employers in the United States. (Presidential Communications Office photo)

Marcos thanked American employers for trusting Filipino professionals.

“When you say that the — the ladies and gentlemen that we have here today represent 200,000, you do not represent 200,000 employees, you represent 200,000 families and you represent 200,000 communities in the Philippines,” the President said.

Also present during the meeting were Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez, and Department of National Defense Officer-in-Charge Carlito Galvez Jr. 

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