03 December 2013 - The Philippine Embassy in London reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that the Philippines was re-elected as Member of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council under Category C at the 28th Regular Session of the IMO Assembly held on November 29 at the organization’s headquarters in London.
The Philippines was re-elected to the Council for the 2014-2015 biennial under Category (c) after obtaining 126 votes (there were 157 votes cast, 154 valid ballots, and three invalid ballots), placing ninth among the 20 IMO Member States elected to the Council under the said category.
The IMO Assembly elected 40 Member States to its Council under the following categories:
Category (a) - 10 States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services:
China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Category (b) - 10 States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade:
Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, The Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.
Category (c) - 20 States not elected under (a) or (b) above, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world:
Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey.
The Council is elected by the Assembly, which is composed of all IMO Member States, for a two-year term beginning after each regular session of the Assembly. It serves as the executive organ of the IMO and is responsible for, inter alia, supervising the work of the organization.
In his statement shortly before the election, Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative to the IMO, remarked that: "the Philippine interest in protecting and ensuring the safety of international seaborne trade stems from its location, being at the crossroads of major maritime routes in the Pacific and East Asia.” He also stated that “Filipino seafarers account for at least 30% of all non-military maritime crews." He also noted that "the Philippines serves as host to the IMO Regional Coordinator for the East Asian countries that facilitates the compliance of member states with the IMO instruments."
At the same meeting, representatives of various delegations expressed their sympathies and concern for victims of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. Notably, Malta, who also won under Category (c), announced its donation of £10,000 to the IMO's Typhoon Haiyan Appeal. Like the Philippines, Malta did not host a reception for its campaign and mentioned that the money that it has saved would be donated to the typhoon victims and expressed hopes that the same would also be used to rehabilitate the maritime schools that were destroyed by the typhoon. Ambassador Manalo thanked these delegations for their expressions of sympathy.
The IMO is the United Nations' specialized agency with a special mandate to ensure the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships. END