Lawyer Villamor Ventura Plan, Assistant Secretary for Maritime at the Department of Transportation, said the Marina Board agreed during its Jan. 27, 2026 meeting to defer the circular’s implementation pending further consultation with the Philippine Coastwise Shipping Association.
Lucio Lim Jr., chair of the Philippine Shipowners and Agents Association (PSCA), told InsiderPH that the group sent a letter last week to Marina Administrator Sonia Malaluan, expressing its willingness to cover the cost of bringing a Marina team to Cebu to discuss the proposed circular with stakeholders.
If that is not possible, he added, the group would send a three-member team to Manila to discuss the provisions of the circular line by line, as agreed during the Jan. 27 panel discussion.
Lim said the group has yet to receive a response.
Moving discussions forward
Stressing the need to update the fines and penalties, Plan told the PCSA members during the panel discussion that the meeting should be done as soon as possible so a proposal could be sent to the Marina Board in time for the next board meeting in February.
He also assured the group that the agency would clearly explain which of PSCA’s recommendations were approved or rejected.
PSCA is the country’s largest shipping organization, composed of at least 50 Filipino shipowners operating short- and medium-haul routes.
The group counts among its members the primary operators of roll-on/roll-off vessels and is the largest shipping association in terms of membership, gross tonnage, employment, and number of routes nationwide.
Plan was the main guest speaker at PSCA’s general membership meeting on Jan. 27 at the Radisson Blu Hotel. Coincidentally, the event took place while members of the Marina Board were holding their monthly meeting in an adjacent function room.
Lack of consultation
During the panel discussion, shipowners stressed that they were not opposed to higher fines and penalties but raised concerns over the lack of consultation. They said they needed clarity on how the penalty amounts were determined, noting that some were excessively steep and appeared to conflict with existing laws.
Perfecto delos Reyes III, a PSCA consultant, said there was no proper and inclusive consultation, noting that the public hearing held on Feb. 3 last year failed to fully discuss the circular because it was cut short when the Marina representative had to catch a flight back to Manila.
“We do not understand how the amount was arrived at, because the percentage of increase ranges from 100 percent to as high as 19,000 percent. So we need to understand how these increases came about, how they were computed,” he added.
According to a PSCA position paper dated Jan. 26, 2026, the proposed penalty for failure to secure the reissuance of required maritime documents following changes would increase by as much as 9,000 percent—from zero previously, as the offense had not carried any fine.
The proposed increase in fines for operating without or with an expired authority ranged from 6,000 percent to 19,000 percent, the position paper said.
“The proposed increase in fines under this provision is unprecedented and economically divorced from the reality of domestic shipping. For instance, a small banca or tramp vessel owner operating in a remote province who misses a renewal deadline by 30 days, faces a fine of P150,000,” the position paper said.
“For many PCSA members operating smaller craft, this amount even exceeds the monthly net income of the vessel.”
Consumer Price Index
Lawyer Dexter Viñan of Trans-Asia Shipping Lines also pointed out that Section 22 of Republic Act 11659, which amended the Public Service Act, specified that the fees and penalties may be adjusted to their present value every five years.
He added, however, that some penalties adjusted in 2022 and 2023 were sharply increased under the new circular.
Viñan said the same law also provides that fees may be adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
He noted that the CPI between 1997 and 2006 was only 200 percent but some increases covering this period were as high as 19,000 percent.
The CPI between 2016 and 2026 was only about 50 percent. But fine increases during this period went up by 90 percent.
Umbrella penalty clause
Viñan also raised concern about the “umbrella penalty clause” in the circular because “ it's so broad that it covers almost everything.”
The clause, he said, stated that whatever offense that is not found in the circular could be punishable under the umbrella penalty clause.
“It is so oppressive. We are under the whim of any inspector. We can be cited and penalized for an offense that has no penalty but because of that umbrella penalty clause, we are now penalized,” he added.
But Engr. Ronaldo Bandalaria, Marina director for Central Visayas who was in the panel, said this catch-all provision was nothing new since the memorandum circular could not be expected to specify every possible offense and penalty.
“That is the purpose. There must be a catch-all provision,” he added.
Viñan, however, reminded Bandalaria that such a provision applies only to contractual obligations between parties under the Civil Code and does not extend to regulatory settings, where the relationship is between the regulator and the regulated.
Plan, for his part, said they would consult their lawyers to determine whether the provisions violate existing laws or infringe on stakeholders’ rights.
‘Accidents on ice’ in the Philippines
Paul Rodrigquez, PCSA president, also pointed out that in the issue of marine pollution, there was no differentiation between a cargo vessel and tanker as long as both have a gross tonnage of 500. But in terms of marine disaster, a tanker causes more harm than a cargo ship, he added.
Rodriguez also flagged a definition that referenced “accidents on ice,” noting that such conditions do not occur in the Philippines.
“It makes the stakeholders wonder if this (memorandum circular) is studied carefully or copied because there is no ice in the Philippines. So why make an ice reference? We are talking of domestic ships here,” he added. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
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