POEA reminder: Seafarers required to show travel exit clearance

Starting this month, Filipino seafarers will be required to have their travel exit clearances validated at government labor assistance centers at the airports. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued the reminder, saying the requirement took effect November 1. "Effective November 1, 2011, Filipino seafarers shall be required to have their travel exit clearance validated at the POEA Labor Assistance Centers (LAC) at the airports prior to their departure," it said. It advised deploying manning agencies to inform their departing seafarers accordingly. Also, it said they may provide the LACs with the list and departure dates of their seafarers for deployment in advance, to facilitate the smooth validation of their exit clearances. Last Sept. 22, POEA administrator Carlos Cao Jr. issued Memorandum Circular No. 12 where he noted the low rate of submission of deployment records by manning agencies. Cao said this had hampered the timely generation of data on seafarer deployment, thus prompting the POEA to recall the exemption granted to seafarers from having to validate their exit clearances at the LACs. — LBG, GMA News