The PRC-WES facility at AMOSUP PCDC Intramuros, Manila had a total of 255 examinees for the month of January 2011. The high number of examinees is due to the number of examinations given by the PRC for the month of January – ten (10) examinations (9 for Deck and 1 for Engine) were scheduled which included the Saturdays and Sundays of the month. In previous months, the total number of examinees never reached 250 at the off-site facility.
This is a welcome development for the industry as it means more and more seafarers are able to obtain or upgrade their licenses through the WES mode. Other WES facilities are at the PRC Head Office and its Regional Offices in Cebu, Iloilo and Davao.
If the number of examinees are properly scheduled and kept at the same level, PCDC will be able to take in over 2,500 seafarers for the whole of 2011. The second floor of PCDC is a facility established by AMOSUP for the exclusive use of PRC by virtue of a MOA between AMOSUP and PRC signed in 2007 by the late Capt. Gregorio S. Oca, past President of the union, and the former PRC Chairperson Leonor T. Rosero, in order to augment and speed up the maritime licensure process.
The facility has 40 work stations with a biometric recognition system, an IBM server, directly linked via static internet protocol with the PRC main server, and several CCTV units which can be remotely viewed form the PRC Head Office. All the equipment, including their periodic maintenance and office space, are provided by the union.