After a
week of delays , I had now finally got back again to get some action and packed
up all my gear for another session of paper works and find out what happened on
where I left off. My agenda's are
1.Find out what happened on my 2nd medical which I took on the 19th of
April.
2.Get the medical clinic to fill out the Physical Medical form which to
be used for the marshal island SIRB
3.Finish the application for the Marshal Island SIRB at the License
counter of Career
4.Signup the contract for the Ship Cape Tallin.
First off I
visited Maritime medical clinic again located in UN Ave Malate , and got to
found out what the hell happened to my second medical which I took last April
19. When I got there I went immediately to the second floor to the Registration
building to inquire. The receptionist said that I should go first back again on
the laboratory and that my status is still pending. What the hell ?!! Pending
?! I immediately went to the laboratory department to sort out this issue and
what I found out was that all it needs was just a simple signature coming from
the laboratory med tech and it will all be over. Geez ! Are those pencil pusher
really that lazy ? , I mean come on guys ! All it needs is a simple wave from
their stupid hand and I'd be on my way,
and all this time my medical papers was all in pending status because of that
??. Anyway I'm glad I got to sort it out
and went back to the clinic to check what's going on. After a small effort I
made , I went back again on the registration and the receptionist told me that
the certificate will be forwarded to my respective agency. I did also took the
time to give them the medical physical exam form for my marshal island SIRB,
The receptionist took it and said that the form will be forwarded to the
company also. First and Second objective
I took the
train afterwards and dropped off to EDSA station, same drill as usual.
At around
11 am, I was with career office to pass my application form for the Marshal
Islands Seaman's Book. "NIDA" thoroughly checked my application form
and my photocopied documents, Initially my application form was turned down
because the typewritten entries I made was full of mistakes and had to redo
everything, including the ID pictures I submitted. "Nida" said that
the ID pictures I submitted were passport size and not the 1.75 x 1.75
measurement. In other words I wasted money in taking ID pictures on the wrong
size. Luckily "Nida" gave me a hint that the house just outside
Career shipping does typewriting jobs on filling out the application form ,
aside from having a small photo studio
for taking ID pictures. "Nida" handed me a spare application form
again. Immediately I went to the said house were "Nida" pointed and
there it was, The old granny inside the house told me to wait for 20 minutes to
have the application form properly filled out via typewritten format and while
I was waiting I could go to the photo studio for the ID pictures.
In a matter
of a few minutes , both my application from and my ID pictures were taken care
of. However it cost me my 150 PHP on my wallet as a downside, leaving me down
to around 130 PHP on my wallet. At about 2pm I passed my application form to
the license counter along with the photocopies and everything went fine,
"Nida" asked were the hell is my medical physical examination form, I
replied that according to the receptionist on the medical clinic , the form
will be forwarded along with my medical results.
After
sorting out thing on the License counter at career , I then proceeded next to
the "processing counter" on "reggie's" booth to sign up for
the contract. Reggie handed me out a couple of forms to sign up with and
mentioned that the principal Columbia Ship management is a member of this so
called AMOSUP organization. From what I read on one of the papers there is this
so called a CBA form included also. After a few minutes I gave back the forms
to Reggie, and she typed something on the computer, I took a peek and saw that
I'm going to travel on a group. From what I saw at the computer there's a 2nd
mate, BOSUN, 2 AB's, an OS (its me), a Deck fitter, a Chief cook and a Mess
man. So basically there's 8 of us going in for the ride. Another thing that I
saw on the computer screen was there's no tentative date yet on which we will
be deployed. Its favorable on my end on the fact that I'm having shortages in
funds and that the cost of expenditures is quite high and It could buy me sometime
to get more money.
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| Documentary Requirements to get a Marshal Islands Seaman's book |
TIPS AND USEFUL INFORMATION
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| AMOSUP Dormitory |
AMOSUP - Basically stands for Associated Marine Officers and
Seafarers Union of the Philippines. The largest "organized" sailor's
organization here. Its main office and headquarters lies deep within inside the
walled compound of Intramuros, Manila. According to what they say on their
papers they have a maritime school of their own (MAAP respectively) , a so
called "slop chest" which is basically is a super mart for sailors,
its own hospital (Inside the intramuros) , Its own training center , and its
very own training ship. Aside from their facilities they also have some sort of
insurance and retirement fund called "provident fund" for aging
sailors and even a housing loan and "sailors village" , Heck they
also even have a dormitory for sailors But seriously I'm not exactly sure on
how effective this organization is and how will it help me on the long run. All
I know is that some of their policy claims are not that good as like to those
of social security, Government health care and housing. Click here for their website for more info
TESDA - Technical Skills and
Development Authority, From what I know this is a government education agency
that handles training to vocational courses however their Primary (and only)
role here in the maritime profession is the issuance of a C.O.C. certificate.
Main office by the way is located somewhere in taguig,
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| Actual Marshal Island SIRB |
LIFE ON THE JOB HUNT AND GEAR USED
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| A School Backpack , one of the universal gear used by filipino sailors to hide their album sized documents |
Fashion
Style as a sailor isn't really that much of an importance, for some reason
sailors dress simple - way too simple. I myself don’t dress fashionable
whenever I go to the shipping office. I just dress on my travel clothes and
that’s about it, The only exception where I dress well is whenever I'm going to
speak in front of the superintendent. The Gear I wore isn't fashionable
probably because its designed for protection. Every sailor (or perhaps even a
student sailor) carries some sort of multi-pocket, multi-compartment backpack or bag to store his / her documents
and inside it a sailor carries a Filofax kind of some sort , or a document
holder to store those paper documents. The Bag and the document holder is the
universal gear a sailor will carry for the rest of his life as a sailor, I
haven't saw one sailor yet that doesn’t carry those two gear s I mentioned. I
myself carry those two gear as well.
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| An Example of a Filo Fax Document folder used by Filipino Sailors |
