The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) recently issued an advisory addressed to all licensed manning agencies regarding the validation of exit clearance of seafarers at the Labor Assistance Center (LAC).

The advisory states that starting November 1, 2011, all seafarers are required to have their travel exit clearances validated at the LAC before their departure.

Last February 28, the POEA released Memorandum Circular No. 3 which exempts seafarers from the requirement of validation of exit clearance at the LAC. However, the POEA decided to recall the past memorandum because the deployment reports submitted by manning agencies are significantly low. This impedes the fast and correct generation of data on seafarer deployment.

The POEA orders all licensed manning agencies to strictly comply with this new memorandum. It is also their duty to inform all their departing seafarers about the new rule on exit clearances. The licensed agencies also have the option to give to LAC a list of their departing seafarers and the departure dates in advance to ensure speedy and smooth validation of their exit.