The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) have strengthen their partnership for the development of the Coast Guard's human resources through the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) today, 15 October 2021.

Leading the signing ceremony were PCG Commandant, CG Vice Admiral Leopoldo V Laroya, and PMMA Superintendent, Commodore Joel Abutal that occurred during the 120th anniversary celebration of the PCG.

“The PMMA has been our dependable partner in the development of our human resources. As a matter of fact, some of our key officers holding relevant positions were graduates of the institution, while some officers manning our ships also graduated from PMMA under the PCG - PMMA cadetship program,” CG Vice Admiral Leopoldo V Laroya said.

“Hence, we took the initiative to strengthen our existing MOA with the PMMA signed in 2014 to make it more suitable and responsive to the fast-changing dynamics of the maritime sector,” the Coast Guard Commandant added.

For his part, Commodore Abutal noted that that new MOA will allow the PCG and PMMA to create more avenues of cooperation on faculty and/or expert exchange, training and seminars, cadetship program, and PMMA Graduate School Program.

“We are looking forward to a stronger partnership with the PCG towards professionalizing key actors of the maritime industry, particularly our PCG officers and future Filipino seafarers,” Commodore Abutal furthered.