Shipping 2026

PHILIPPINES Law and Practice Contributed by: Valeriano Del Rosario, Daphne Ruby Grasparil, Patrick Sarmiento and Maria Francesca Bautista, VeraLaw

1.5 Temporary Registration of Vessels The Philippines allows temporary registration of ves - sels. A Philippine national or corporation may bare - boat-charter a foreign-flagged vessel, which may be registered with MARINA upon compliance with spe - cific conditions. The vessel does not lose its original flag, but instead will be considered Philippine regis - tered and flagged for the duration of the charter. 1.6 Registration of Mortgages MARINA maintains the ship registry, and ship mort - gages are annotated on the ship’s registry record. For a mortgage to be annotated by MARINA, the following documents should be submitted: • a letter of intent; • the mortgage contract, which has to be notarised; • proof of payment of documentary stamp tax; and • the original Certificate of Ownership and Certificate of Vessel Registry. 1.7 Ship Ownership and Mortgages Registry These records and documents are available to the public; however, a letter of request has to be provided to and approved by MARINA before the information and documents are released. The key terms for a typical ship finance transaction would be set out in the loan agreement and the pre - ferred mortgage agreement. A mortgage agreement obtains “preferred” status by being recorded in the ship registry of MARINA. The terms would be as expected in a normal ship finance deal, but the unique feature is embodied in the law. The Ship Mortgage Decree of 1978 provided a single body of law with a view to accelerating the growth and development of the shipping industry. That law, which was closely patterned after the Liberian Mari - time Law, included restrictions that were not found in the Liberian model. There is a nationality require - ment under Section 2 of that Decree. Furthermore, the preferred ship mortgage could only be granted for purposes of financing the “construction, acquisition, 2. Ship Finance and Leasing 2.1 Ship Loan Finance

• “to remove, destroy or tow to port sunken or float - ing hazards to navigation, including illegal fish and vessels, at or close to sea lanes which may cause hazards to the marine environment”; • “to investigate and inquire into the causes of all maritime accidents involving death, casualties and damage to properties”; • “to enforce laws and promulgate and adminis - ter rules and regulations for the protection of the marine environment and resources from offshore sources [from] pollution within the maritime juris - diction of the Philippines”; and • “to develop oil spill response, containment and recovery capabilities against ship-based pollution”. 1.3 Domestic Legislation Applicable to Ship Registration By virtue of Presidential Executive Order No 125 and 125-A, as well as the Domestic Shipping Development Act of 2004 (RA 9295), the Maritime Industry Author - ity (MARINA) was vested with the authority to han - dle the domestic registration of vessels. The specific regulations on vessel registration are provided under MARINA Memorandum Circular No 2013-02. MARINA was vested with the authority to accredit, and issue certificates of public convenience to, domestic ship - ping operators to trade within the islands of the Philip - pine archipelago. 1.4 Requirements for Ownership of Vessels Prior to July 2021, only Philippine nationals or Philip - pine corporations that were at least 60% owned by Philippine nationals could own and register ships in the Philippines. However, the Act amending portions of the Public Service Act (RA 11659) was recently enacted by the Philippine Congress to lift such restric - tions. For the implementation and application of this new law, MARINA issued Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) in its Memorandum Circular No DS 2023-02 to dismantle the decades-old restrictive rules and regulations. A vessel under construction cannot be registered with MARINA because a Builder’s Certificate from a MARI - NA-accredited ship-yard has to be submitted before issuance of a Certificate of Ownership.

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