the Blue Ocean

REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The National Maritime Polytechnic, thirty-three (33) years since its creation, has once again looked into and
evaluated its existence, leading towards its recent adoption of the Blue Ocean Strategy as a guiding principle
in setting future directions. Created on May 1, 1978 by virtue of Presidential Decree 1369, the NMP became
an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment in 1987 with the signing of Executive
Order 126. Since its creation, it has faced the challenge of excellence in the delivery of public service given
the constraints common to all government agencies, such as limited resources, bureaucratic policies and
processes and unstable political environment. Despite these, however, the NMP managed to raise its torch
high and bright for the Filipino seafarers, rising above hurdles and growing to become the only governmentowned
premier maritime training, research and assessment center in the country.
Looking back on the underlying principles that spurred the creation of the NMP in the first place, the provision
of maritime training and research, reaffirms the Agency’s relevance at present times. This, as well as
the dynamism of the industry in which the NMP moves, is taken into consideration in its current stance of
navigating towards the blue ocean. To survive and flourish in an increasingly ever-changing market, at
the core of the blue ocean strategy is innovation in all aspects, with primacy on value innovation. Indeed,
as the NMP navigates into the blue ocean, it will work for the continual improvement of its core services
in anticipation of imminent changes while discovering new ways to be truly relevant and responsive to the
industry it serves. It will be mindful of critical issues facing the industry to include, among others, the
recurrent shortage of management level officers, compliance with the 2010 STCW Manila Amendments,
ratification of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006, escalation of piracy at sea, and lack of technical resources
of government regulatory bodies to implement standards on maritime training and assessment.
All these while staying on course to the basic fact that the betterment of the Filipino seafarer will always be
the ultimate reason for the NMP’s creation and continuing existence. Consistent with its first mandate, which
is to train globally competitive seafarers, the Agency once again maintained its excellent performance in
maritime training with a total of 19,346 certificates issued to merchant marine officers and ratings, cadets,
maritime faculty, trainers and other personnel in the maritime industry. This represents a remarkable
accomplishment
2011 Annual
of 104% from
Report
the original annual target of 18,634.
Significant progress was similarly made in the area of maritime research with three (3) studies and two
(2) proposals completed as of yearend. True to its second mandate on the conduct of research, NMP’s
work on this hugely important aspect takes off from the dynamic characteristics of the industry and the
resulting demand for timely, accurate, and informed data as basis for program and policy development. For
the year, the studies on 1) Supply of and Demand for Filipino Seafarers; 2) Decent Work in the Maritime
Industry: Focus on Filipino Seafarers On Board Domestic Vessels; and 3) Challenges Facing the Welfare of
Filipino Seafarers—An Analysis of Current Welfare Services vis-a-vis Seafarers’ Needs all recorded 100%
accomplishment. It is worth noting that the latter was completed through a research collaboration with
the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen’s Union of
the Philippines. Similarly, in the case of the second research, the assistance of the Philippine Coast Guard
became highly instrumental in the speedy completion of its data gathering activities.
With regards to administration and finance, another significant accomplishment is the solid financial results
posted as of yearend. Worth noting is the Agency’s total generated income of P37.1M, an impressive
14.5% increase from the P32.2M revenues in 2010. Again, because of the NMP’s efficient budget spending
performance, the Agency has sustained the budget flexibility granted by the DBM since 2003. Another
healthy indicator is fund utilization with a total obligated amount of P103.2M, equivalent to 97% of the total
allotment of 106.5M.
2011 Annual Report
3 NMP Annual Report 2011