A Young Pinoy Seafarer’s Challenge: Love life or Career?

Most of the cadets I have worked with have inspirations before leaving the Philippines. And it is not just once that a cadet confides to me that his girlfriend (GF) want to get married once he comes back to the Philippines. Napapailing lang ako. Unang sakay pa lang ng barko, kasal na agad ang habol ni GF.

Ang pagmamarino ay parang showbiz yan. Pag inuna mo ang love life, pwedeng mag suffer ang career mo. Pag inuna naman ang career, makapaghihintay naman kaya ang irog mo? Eh kung pagsabayin na lang kaya?

Many did that to find out that it is an uphill struggle bearing the weight of starting a family with starting a career. A Pinoy seafarer before he becomes a full pledge certificated officer will have to finish many training courses. Sometimes he stops his training because the financial resources are already limited. This is especially true if he has to personally pay for his trainings and in single income family. Stop muna ang schooling, sakay ng barko tapos manghihinayang kung may opportunity na promotion na hindi nakuha kasi hindi naman kumpleto ang mga papeles nya.

Some ratings will save money for a grand wedding celebration instead of career development. Sabi ng kasama ko, “Kung gumastos ka ng half million pesos para sa kasal mo na isang araw na okasyon pwede ng i-pang down ng house and lot yun. Hindi ka na sana nangu-ngupahan ngayon.” Pero huwag ka, sya rin naman, nag iipon kasi beach wedding sa Boracay ang gusto ng fiancée nya.

A Pinoy seafarer should allocate at least 100,000 pesos for review, exam and training. Posfil Shipmanagement has a very good cadetship program because the cadets are limited to have an onboard allowance of 50 US dollars only and the rest of their money goes to their self-allotment  to be used only for their career advancement. The cadets are forced to save. Kaya pagnakatapos ang kadete ng isang taong apprenticeship nya, may pera na pang tustos sa kanyang review, exam and training.  

A seaman’s GF asked me if her boyfriend should change company since he cannot use his license in the company where they are both presently affiliated with. My answer is a big YES! Many ratings with officers’ licenses are stuck in their present companies that promise promotion. Since there are other senior ratings ahead of them with licenses too, their chances of being promoted are slim or it will take 3 recommendations from department heads or 3 more contracts to finish before they will be considered for promotion. This usually happens in established companies. Yung iba 5 years na ang license hindi pa nagamit. Tapos may balak na panukala ang Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) noon na pag hindi mo nagamit ang lisensya ng 5-years ay kailangan mo ulit mag re-training ka or worst mag-re take ng exam. (Yung re-take ng exam, hindi natuloy, eh yung re-training, tuloy ba? Guys, please update me. Thanks.) 

Kung gusto mong magamit ang lisensya mo, sacrifice your present well-paying job as a rating and venture to a pi-pitsuging kumpanya (Pinoy seafarers’ lingo which mean lightweight/low caliber). Mas mababa kasi magpasahod kaya mahirap kumuha ng mga opisyales pero mabilis naman ang promotion. Yung isang nakausap ko, sa domestic trade nya nagamit ang license nya. I just told her that her boyfriend should tell his intention to his crewing manager before leaving the company. Mag-paalam ng maayos. para kung gusto nya ulit bumalik sa company, welcome pa rin siya.

In our society, it is expected that the older siblings are the one supporting the studies of the younger ones. Iba pa nga, hindi lang mga kapatid ang pinagpapa-aral pati mga pinsan o pamangkin ginagastusan. Hindi tuloy makapag exam ang seaman para mapataas ang ranggo nya.

Yung iba naman pag nasa barko, may planong mag exam, pero nakakita ng sexy car sales representative kaya ayun naengganyo at nakabibili ng bagong sasakyan. Dahil monthly amortization, hindi makapagbakasyon ng matagal para makapag review, exam at training. Kailangan sumakay agad ng barko para may pang hulog. Ang bago nyang sasakyan? Iba ang gumagamit, hehehe.

Dr. Luz Dasmariñas, department head of AIMS Graduate School’s (GS) Masters’ in Custom Administration (MCA), meets the Officer-In-Charge (OIC) of Navigational Watch of the ro-ro (roll on-roll off) ferry that the AIMS GS graduate students chooses for their ship’s bridge familiarization. He was not able to use his OIC license in the overseas trade but lucky enough to practice it in the domestic trade.

Love life or career? 

It depends on what is your goal. Some Pinoy seafarers like to become master mariner or chief engineer before the age of 30, Maaga silang maka-akto, maaga rin mag reretiro; while others want to start a family early.

Hint, pag tumambay ka sa Kalaw, (Pambansang Umpukan ng mga Seaman) sa may Luneta Park, ano ba ang laging in-demand na mga posisyon na hiring?

Start young, start right.

For a young starting Pinoy seafarer, are you going to concentrate on career advancement or padadala ka sa bugso ng puson.. este damdamin mo? The choice is yours. 

(Addendum: Here are the officers and crew comments after reading this article.)

Sabi ni deck cadet Earl De la Cruz, ”If you choose your career, love can definitely wait. If you choose love, opportunity comes once in a lifetime, your career will be…bulilyaso) J ”  

Second Mate William Gole added, “Some seafarers speak they have plan to take examination when they sign off. But even after 3 contracts they were still not able to take the exam because the budget is not enough. When you are married, your first priority will be the budget for the family’s expenses while on vacation. Some seafarers look for their fellow seafarers “dating kasamahan sa barko” with good hearts to borrow money for their examination. If they passed, they will look again for other persons to borrow money for training purposes. And if they were not able to borrow, they do Plan B. PLAN B is to report to the crewing agency office and ask to be lined-up. Hopefully, on his next contract, he will be able get extra money for next vacation to finance all training requirements for filling of Certificate of Competency (COC).”

hobolmaster: “If you choose your career, love can definitely wait.” A very concrete phrase and I always hear it especially on cadets. Now, I heard it again. I witness or let’s say I’ve worked with a cadet (earlier on his contract) that his dedication to his career is very strong and promising. But in a single moment, love starts growing strong than his dedication. Maybe because of too much promises they made together while on video call, hahaha, or he can’t control the feelings. Then when love problem struck like “the right one comes along”, career is affected (loco de amor) hahaha.. 

And there’s another love, love for families. We’re not asking this but you can’t avoid it, EMERGENCIES. Due to small allowance as a cadet or let’s say you’re a breadwinner, sometimes you don’t have a choice. You have to choose love over career to save your loved ones.(Nakaipit na pera pang exam hihiramin muna) In the eyes of God that is the right choice. So what would be the right thing to say when you start a career? 

For me, ang masasabi ko, It is God’s will. Diyos ang may-ari ng lahat ng bagay. Kaya sa awa at tulong Niya at sa Kalooban Niya maabot mo ang bagay na gusto mo. Of course work without faith and faith without work is dead. So work with faith. (sa lagi ko naririnig sa public address system sa barko “ I say again” ang sa akin lang.) WORK WITH FAITH!