Compliance of Domestic Shipping Operators at Batangas Port to RA 9295

The study determined the compliance of the domestic shipping operators at Batangas Port to Republic Act 9295 also known as Domestic Shipping Development Act of 2004. It described the profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex, designation, and department/office where the respondents work; determined how the domestic shipping operators at Batangas Port comply with Republic Act 9295; identified the problems encountered by the respondents in implementing Republic Act 9295. The researcher made use of descriptive correlational method. The study revealed that majority of the respondents fall on adult age, female and with considerable number of years working at a government agency overseeing the maritime industry. The domestic shipping operators of Batangas Port very much complied with the provisions of Republic Act 9295. The respondents disagreed that there were problems encountered in the law implementation. Such include shipping operators’ failure to observe schedule of trips, aging manpower and personal limitations in doing fieldworks as well as implementation of the mandatory vessel retirement program, checking if the deputized agency conducts security inspection prior to ships’ departures routes and failure of the operators to maintain its vessels in safe and serviceable condition, implementing of rules on over-tonnaging and schedule of trips reservation. The respondents’ profile variables were not contributory to the compliance of domestic shipping operators at Batangas Port to Republic Act 9295.

Keywords – Domestic Shipping Operators, Batangas Port, Philippines, RA 9295