SEVSNTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
OF THE PHILIPPINES

First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL no, 10 fe RES'STRATION UNIT
BULLS AND anDEX & uN

ANGKLA Party-list Representative JESULITO A. MANALO

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CAMPUS OF THE PHILIPPINE MERCHANT
MARINE ACADEMY (PMMA) IN MINDANAO TO BE KNOWN AS THE
PHILIPPINE MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY-MINDANAO CAMPUS AND.
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The skill for seafaring of our brothers in Mindanao is of national notice.

Since time immemorial, they have sailed the high seas and traded with our
Asian neighbors using boats of their own design and built using indigenous
materials. Their version of fast crafts, called “kumpits”, are reputed even today to
easily outrun their imported counterparts in our own Philippine Navy. Their innate
love of the sea makes them natural students of the merchant marine, and needs only
to be given the opportunity to hone and sharpen these skills at a proper institute for
them to compete at an international level as Filipino global maritime professionals.

The significance of the Philippine maritime industry, which transcends both
the global and national arena cannot be overemphasized. Foremost, 90% of world
trade is still reliant in international shipping. This means that almost all the food we
eat, clothes we wear, the things we buy, use, own, in one way or another, were

shipped on board vessels before they got to us. Shipping clearly moves the world.
Corollary to this, our Filipino seafarers play a major role in the shipping industry as
a whole, with 1 out of 4 seafarers onboard international vessel being Filipinos, thus
comprising about 30% of the total global maritime professionals in the world.

In a national scale, our Filipino seafarers onboard international fleets have
greatly contributed to our social economic progress. Their foreign exchange
remittances grow annually, notwithstanding that our seafarers comprise only 5% of
the total OFWs working abroad. In fact, in 2014, their contributions amounted to
USDS5.6 billion out of the USD24.3 billion dollars aggregate OFW remittances or
more than 20% thereof.


Surely, all these opportunities and level of importance can be well extended
to our brothers in Mindanao. ‘Thus, this bill seeks to establish a state-run maritime
college in Mindanao, preferably through a campus of the Philippine Merchant
Marine Academy, to be appropriately funded by government for its establishment
and operation. Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) offers various
educational and training courses solely dedicated to maritime, including its major
programs for Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation and in Marine
Engineering. It endeavors to provide all its graduates the skills and ability to be
globally competitive maritime professionals, ready to obtain their careers in the
shipping business whether here or elsewhere in the world. Records show that in
both 2011 and 2012, 99% of its students were able to embark in international vessels
for shipboard training. An average of 200 graduates every year is produced, with
100% finding immediate employment. Thus, these graduates are assured of good
career opportunities with each of them guaranteed an average monthly income of
USS8 thousand to USS12 thousand as they progress to become maritime officers.

Considering that at present, the entire Mindanao has no state-run maritime
school offering courses in marine transportation or in marine engineering, a PMMA
Campus in the island will certainly encourage the youth who dream to become
Filipino global maritime professionals, but have little choice to enroll in private
schools or uproot themselves in order to study in Manila or elsewhere.

The creation of a PMMA Campus in Mindanao is thus intended to address
these aspirations and democratize access to maritime education and training in
Mindanao. It will enhance the economic engine and bring about much-needed
development to the Tri-People in the south, benefiting Muslims, Lumads, and
Christian settlers alike,

More importantly, this proposed measure is an initial step towards allowing
any qualified Filipino, anywhere in these thousands of our islands, the chance to
embark on his own destiny upon the open seas of opportunity in his chosen
maritime profession,

‘The passage of this bill cannot come at a more opportune time.

‘Ov”A. MANALO,
Representative



SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC)
OF THE PHILIPPINES )

First Regular Session )

on
HOUSE BILL No, L0e4

Introduced by ANGKLA Party-list Representative JESULITO A. MANALO
"y ty. a

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CAMPUS OF THE PHILIPPINE MERCHANT
MARINE ACADEMY (PMMA) IN MINDANAO TO BE KNOWN AS THE
PHILIPPINE MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY-MINDANAO CAMPUS AND.
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

Section 1.ShortTitle.- This Act shall be known as the “PMMA Mindanao
Campus Act’.

Section2.Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State to support and
promote the maritime industry of the Philippines. The State recognizes the
vital role of the industry to the social and economic development of the
country. Towards this end, the State shall establish an institution in Mindanao
that will offer appropriate education, training, skills and values to aspiring
Filipino seafarers to sustain their competitiveness and maintain the status of the
Philippines as the premier provider of competent and certificated seafarers in
the international seaborne trade.

Section 3.PMMA-Mindanao Campus. - There is hereby established a
campus of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy in Mindanao to be known as
the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy-Mindanao Campus which shall
hereinafter be referred to as the PMMA-Mindanao Campus.

Section 4.Curricular Offerings.- The PMMA-Mindanao Campus shall
offer the same degree programs and courses that the PMMA offers in its main
campus in Zambales. These include undergraduate and graduate degree
programs and advanced education, higher technological and_ professional
instruction and training in the fields of marine transportation, nautical
engineering, naval architecture, marine engineering, navigation, seamanship,
science and technology, and other courses within its area of specialization, as


the PMMA Board of Regents may deem appropriate according to its purpose
and mandate.

Section 5.The Governing Board.- The governance of the PMMA-Mindanao
Campus shall be vested exclusively in the Board of Regents of the PMMA Main
Campus, hereinafter referred to as the Board. All policies, rules and regulations
approved by the Board shall be enforced and applied to the PMMA-Mindanao
Campus.

Section 6.Powers and Duties. - In addition to its powers and duties
under Republic Act No. 8292, otherwise known as the “Higher Education
Modernization Act of 1997”, the Board shall have the following specific
powers and duties:

(a) To fix the site in a province/city in Mindanao where
the PMMA-Mindanao Campus shall be established;

(b) To formulate the organizational, administrative, and
academic programs of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus, and
pursuant thereto, to designate the school's officials;

(©) To enter into contracts and other agreements in sole
representation or for the exclusive benefit of the PMMA-
Mindanao Campus;

(a) To receive and appropriate all sums as may be provided by
law for the establishment, management, operation, and
support of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus in order to best
carry out its functions andpurposes;

(e) To receive in trust, legacies, gifts, and donations of real
and personal properties of all kinds and to administer or
dispose these for the benefit of the PMMA-Mindanao
Campus, subject to whatever limitations, directions, or
restrictions as may be set by the donors, if any;

(f) To fix tuition fees and other necessary expenses relating to the
cost of education, after due consultation with the sectors
affected: Provided, That they conform to the rules and
regulations issued by the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) on tuition fees and miscellaneous expenses;

(g) To adopt and implement, as far as practicable and
sustainable, a socialized scheme of tuition fees to provide
greater access to education to poor but deserving students;


(h) To authorize the construction, repair, or upgrading of the
PMMA-Mindanao Campus buildings, facilities, and
equipment, as well as the purchase and acquisition of real and
personal properties including all necessary supplies, materials,
and items relating to the fulfillment of the functions and
purposes of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus, subject to existing
laws such as Republic Act No. 6541 or the “National Building
Code of the Philippines’, government accounting and
auditing rules, and other applicable rules and regulations;

(i) To appoint, upon the recommendation of the President, the
deans, directors, heads of departments, faculty members,
officials and employees whose education, _ training
qualifications and licenses are suitable to their positions, in
accordance with the guidelines of the Civil Service
Commission (CSC) and the CHED;

() To fix and adjust the compensation, other benefits and
conditions of employment of faculty members, administrative
officials, staff, and employees, in accordance with an
established compensation and classification system, subject
to all other pertinent budget and compensation-related laws
governing hours of service, leaves of absence, benefits, and
incentives;

(k) To remove faculty members, administrative officials, staff,
and employees for cause and in accordance with due process of
law;

()) To approve and apply the relevant curricula for Bachelor of
Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) and Bachelor of
Science in Marine Engineering (BSMarE) programs, and to
comply with all existing rules and regulations, including
those from the CHED, the Memorandum Orders for Maritime
Education, Guidelines of the Maritime Industry Authority
(MARINA), the Standards of Training, Certification and
Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) conventions, and other
local and international laws that are applicable;

(m) To set the policies on the admission of students, the essential
rules of discipline and the conferment of degrees;

(n) To award honorary degrees in recognition of outstanding
contributions to the field of maritime education or technology;


(0) ‘To establish research and extension centers of the
PMMA-Mindanao Campus for the purpose of further
developing and enriching maritime education and training;

(p) To establish professorial chairs and provide fellowships at
the PMMA-Mindanao Campus for qualified faculty members,
including scholarship opportunities for deserving students;

(q) To appoint experts or specialists as consultants, or to admit
visiting or exchange professors, scholars, students, or
researchers, as the case may be: Provided, That the PMMA-
Mindanao Campus shall secure the required authorization
from the CHED and the Professional Regulation Commission
(PRO);

(x) To develop academic arrangements, agreements, and accords
for institution capability building with other entities,
institutions, or agencies, whether public or private, local or
foreign;

(6) To delegate any of these powers and duties as provided for
herein and by other relevant laws, to the President, Campus
‘Administrator or other officials of either the Board or the
PMMA-Mindanao Campus, as it may deem appropriate or
expeditious for the conduct and effective administration of the
affairs of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus; and

() To issue and implement rules and regulations as may be
necessary to carry out the purposes and functions of the
PMMA Mindanao Campus that shall ensure the fulfillment of
the PMMA’s mandate.

Section 7.Campus Administrator. - The | PMMA-Mindanao Campus
all be headed by a Campus Administrator who shall render full-time service

‘The Campus Administrator shall be appointed by the Board upon the
recommendation of a duly constituted search committee and the PMMA
President, subject to the guidelines, qualifications, and standards set by the
Board, and shall serve for a term of four (4) years. The Campus Administrator
shall be eligible for reappointment to another term. The powers, duties, and
responsibilities of the Campus Administrator, in addition to those provided
herein, shall be provided in the guidelines that shall be issued to implement this
Act.


In case of a vacancy caused by reason of death, resignation, removal for
cause, or incapacity of the Campus Administrator to perform the duties and
functions of the office, the Board shall have the authority to designate an
officer-in-charge to hold such office pending the appointment of a replacement who
shall then only hold office for the unexpired term.

The Campus Administrator of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus shall
represent the PMMA-Mindanao Campus in the Administrative Council and
Academic Council of the PMMA.

Section 8.Administrative Council.- There shall be constituted an
administrative council, composed of the deans, directors, and other officials
headed by the Campus Administrator as its Chairperson, whose function is to
propose and recommend to the Board for their action, policies on or revisions to,
the administration, management, and development planning of the PMMA-
Mindanao Campus.

Section 9.Academic Council. - There shall be constituted an academic council,
composed of all members of the instructional staff with a rank of at least an
assistant professor to be headed by the Campus Administrator as its Chairperson,
whose function is to propose and recommend to the Board for their action,
policies on or revisions to, the requirements and prerequisites for the admission
and graduation of, as well as conferment of degrees to students, including the
essential rules of discipline. The Council shall likewise recommend to the Board,
amendments or improvements of academic standards and curricular requirements
of the maritime course offerings, subject to their compliance with all pertinent and
relevant international maritime conventions and the corresponding government
implementing rules, regulations, and memoranda.

Section 10.Assets, Liabilities, and Personnel.- All assets, real and personal,
personnel and records of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus, as well as liabilities or
obligations, shall be titled in the name of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus. The
positions, rights, and security of tenure of faculty members and personnel therein
employed under existing laws prior to its conversion into a regular campus shall be
respected.

Alll parcels of land belonging to the government occupied by the PMMA-
Mindanao Campus shall be titled in the name of the PMMA-Mindanao Campus:
Provided That should the PMMA-Mindanao Campus cease to exist or be abolished
or should such parcels of land aforementioned be no longer needed by the PMMA-
Mindanao Campus, the same shall revert to the donor or local government units
concerned.

Section 11.Authority to Loan or Transfer Apparatus/Equipment/ Supplies
and Detail of Personnel. The heads of the bureaus and offices of the national


government are hereby authorized to loan or transfer, upon the request of the
PMMA President, such apparatus, equipment or supplies as may be needed by
the PMMA-Mindanao Campus, and to detail employees for duty therein when, in
the judgment of the head of the bureau or office, such apparatus, equipment,
supplies or services of such employees can be spared without serious detriment to
the public services.

‘The employees so detailed shall perform such duties as required of them
by the PMMA President and/or the PMMA-Mindanao Campus Administrator,
and the time so employed shall be counted as part of their regular services.

Section 12,Academic Freedom and Institutional Autonomy. - The PMMA-
Mindanao Campus shall enjoy academic freedom and institutional autonomy. It
shall exclusively determine its teaching, research and extension thrusts, plans,
policies, programs, and standards, and on the basis of such determination,
recommend its annual budget to the Board for subsequent approval by the
President: Provided, That in the first two (2) years upon the establishment of the
PMMA-Mindanao Campus, it shall be under the direct supervision and
management of the Board. Thereafter, it shall enjoy autonomy from the Main
Campus.

Section 13.Tax Exemptions. - Any donation or bequest made to the
PMMA-Mindanao Campus shall be exempt from donor's tax and shall be
considered as allowable deduction from the gross income of the donor, in
accordance with the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as
amended.

Section 14.Appropriations. - The amount necessary to carry out the
provisions of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Section 15.Development Plan, Management Audit, Organizational/
Administrative/Academic Structure. - Within the period of one hundred twenty
(120) days after the approval of this Act, the PMMA-Mindanao Campus shail
accomplish the following:

(a) Submit a five (5)-year development plan, including its
corresponding program budget, to the CHED for corresponding,
recommendation to the Department of Budget and Management;

(b) Undergo a management audit in cooperation with the CHED;
and

(©) Organize administrative as well as academic structure by
appointing and designating PMMA-Mindanao Campus officials.


Section 16.lmplementing Rules and Regulations. - Within sixty (60) days
from the approval of this Act, the Board, in consultation with the CHED and the
MARINA, shall promulgate the rules and regulations implementing the provisions
of this Act.

Section 17.Separability Clause.- If any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or provisions not affected thereby shall
remain in full force and effect.

Section 18.Repealing Clause. - Republic Act No. 3680, converting the
Philippine Nautical School into the PMMA, and other laws or parts thereof
inconsistent with any provision of this Act shall be deemed repealed or
modified accordingly, as these apply to the PMMA-Mindanao Campus.

Section 19.Effectivity.  - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,