PMA brass okays plan to allow grads to join the Coast Guard

From the Manila Standard Today (Jul 13): PMA brass okays plan to allow grads to join the Coast Guard

The Philippine Military Academy on Friday  proposed to allow its graduates to once again enter the Philippine Coast Guard, the country’s premier maritime law enforcement unit.

Coast Guard commandant Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena welcomed the plan hatched by officials of the PMA Alumni Association Inc. for the re-entry of graduating PMA cadets to his agency, saying “it will surely enhance our human resource program and networking.”

The last time the Coast Guard admitted PMA graduates was in 1998, before it separated from the Philippine Navy to become the country’s “third armed service” under the Department of Transportation and Communications.

Isorena, a graduate of PMA class of 1982, said that having PMA graduates in their roster will boost their networking capabilities and inter-agency coordination with other branch of armed service like in the Armed Forces and the National Police.

As of the moment, there are 40 PMA alumni currently occupying key positions at the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard is presently hiring new officers either from direct commission who will undergo six months of extreme training or from the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy were there are certain slots given to become a coast guard officer after graduation.

The recruits will undergo a nine month training program, including ship familiarization with shipboard/navigation training, seamanship and subjects on coast guard nuances and peculiarity like search and rescue, maritime law enforcement and marine environmental protection.

“The Coast Guard needs more people because we are an archipelagic country with more than 7,000 islands,” said Coast Guard chief information officer Cdr. Armand Balilo.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/07/13/pma-brass-okays-plan-to-allow-grads-to-join-the-coast-guard/