PDOS is
obvious a seminar for any OFW's , both land based and sea based kind. Basically
this seminar is not a big deal and if were not a requirement to get past
airport security in NAIA , I wouldn't take this at all. In any case , PDOS
basically is a seminar which tells the Do's and DON'Ts of travel - yes it's
more like a travel guide stating what not to bring and how to act like don’t
tell any BOMB jokes that you're a terrorist trying to blow up something , or
bring any of the long list of prohibited items like radioactive materials,
ammunition , guns , weapons etc. etc. list goes on…. Also the seminar tells
OFW's to keep in mind not to act like an imbecile inside the airport (or while
travelling) and be on the lookout on our local airports during arrival since
lately it has been infested with syndicated crime. (bullet schemes, Open
luggage's schemes , etc etc)
PDOS
seminar in CF sharp is lenient compared to Career Ship Management were crew
have to attend it on every contract or so , Here in CF Sharp it's probably just
every two years, so probably I won't be attending this seminar again for a
while.
Anti-piracy
isn't exactly to be taken seriously in passenger ships , since there is a lot
of crew there and there is a specific crew on a specific task - plus the
passenger ship companies are more generous when it comes to adding armed
security personnel compared to cargo ships. For cargo ships however it’s a
different story, since companies here are always concerned on budget and are
even budget conscious enough not to send armed guards to protect ships . Anyway
Anti-piracy seminar basically is mostly composed of tactics and measures to
keep any pirates at bay from not getting inside the ship until help arrives
(usually from the military navies of different countries in the area). I'm not
getting into the details on what the seminar discusses , and will mostly focus
on what is the seminar itself. Anyway CF Sharpe Anti-Piracy seminar was just
only a video film showing nothing more. Good thing that this seminar is only
taken once on the whole stay of an employee to the company.
The
following day …
As
scheduled , I went to GMSI office early in the morning and await to be picked
up by a mini bus. At about 7:30 am indeed there was a PMMA bus that came and
fetched us to the PMMA training center. At about 8am we were already at the
PMMA training center in north harbour. There's nothing much to say to the
building in the north harbour and basically its old and dilapidated compared to
other much more modern ambience on other training facilities, and frankly the
old building looked more like cheaply retrofitted facility for PMMA. There's
even hardly people going around the
entire building at all. We went to the class room at about 9am and it was
basically a simple lecture with a quiz at the end of it, after that we were
given a set of instruction for the practical the next day on what to bring and
were will be the meeting place. Apparently the building here occupied by PMMA
training center is mostly just built for lectures and class but no actual
facilities used for the technical skills, so we have to be hauled off from
manila all the way to the PMMA main training facility in San Narcisso,
Zambales. Given with the location
disadvantage I had from Marikina to T.M. Kalaw at the time of meeting place
(4am) , I had to set out early and left the house at about 8pm and wait there
in Mcdonald's T.M. Kalaw till 4am. Well I could leave the house at a later time
about 10pm which cuts the long waiting time but I'd lost the advantage of
having to travel cheaper via LRTA (which closed 9pm) plus the fact that roads
in manila from 10pm onwards aren't exactly safe on that time period.
Waiting for
6 hours wasn't exactly that bad at all as long as there is a public wifi
service, and good thing in T.M. kalaw area there's two sites that have a public
WIFI. One is of course McDonalds and they don’t have any passwords at all to
access the wifi there, the second is 7-11 store in U.N. avenue but
unfortunately a WIFI user has to have a registered 7-11 card to access it. Best
bet in the area is McDonalds. Anyway the only regret I had was that I didn’t
brought along my tablet to access the WIFI and had to relay on cellphone alone
to access the internet. Anyway being occupied on the internet had the six hours
wait gone by in a flash and all before I knew it , most of my co-trainee had
already arrived.
During the
wait , there was a PMMA collectible shop. Though the selection is not as
extensive as the one I saw in the Philippine Military Academy Tourist booth in
Baguio 10 years ago. It's still a functioning collectible shop. Some of my
co-workers bought a few collectibles and I was asked why am I not buying one ,
I replied simply that I'm not a interested. Actually the real answer to that
was that I hate glorifying a school that
produces sadistic sailors and patronizes militaristic culture on a purely
civilian job, plus on the fact that they brainwash kids to think that their
soldiers and everything to them that is not a soldier is inferior. I just
simply hate all that bullshit glorifying militaristic propaganda PMMA feeds on
the youth and other civilians alike. Anyway despite all my disdain in the
school , I'm here simply on business and let not my personal hatred with the
institution affect my agenda here, this is just purely business.
The trip
home was a very long one , another 4 hours from zambales to metro manila area.
The service Van went close to the Munoz area ,and that’s when I decided that
they could drop me off there. To be honest it was a big mistake for me to be in
Muñoz area and walk my way towards cubao, and one good reason , it was already
3pm and the temperature is still a scorching 39 to 42 degrees Celsius. Walking
during that time and temperature was a bad idea. As I walked my whole shirt was
soaking wet with sweat and the same goes to the reserve shirts I had on my back
pack. Anyway walking in these area after 16 to 13 years later feels kind of
reminisce, of course there have been huge changes on the shops and overall
structure of some of the places , but still I recognize the route and direction
I'm walking.
At
afternoon I went home and took a good rest for all that exhaustion from the
walk and from the travel.
PMMA Training Center
honestly
the refresher course is basically a joke I could not see the wisdom behind it,
for me this two day seminar is basically just a waste of time and money on
Filipino sailors , not to mention profiteering of training centers and MARINA
itself that uses STCW 2010 amendment as an excuse to hide their ulterior motive
of making money.
So, what
can I say about PMMA training center. First off is the place is a bit run down
and dilapidated but there is a lot of potential on this training center if they
have funding to renovate the place and applied the "open" business
practice audacity like PNTC does, make it like a more modern feel - if they do
that , I'm sure that PMMA Training Center would be very competitive in both
providing both Maritime education and training and people from all over the
maritime community will be flocking in to their Training center for the cheap,
inexpensive training with COP certificate. One thing I noticed as well , and a
major drag down is travel time to their technical training facility which is
located inside the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Campus in zambales, Takes
roughly at least 4 hours to go there from manila and another 4 hours going back
, without traffic. They should have put a large size vehicle like a BUS
specifically as a means of transport for the trainee's, I suspect that they
only reserve their bus to for their academy students and not trainee's for
their training center.
To
summarized overall, PMMA training center has a lot of unrealized (and untapped)
potential if they would take the "training" business more seriously,
if they do that government could be pocketing a large profit from this training
center and not entirely relay on MARINA for profits coming from the Maritime
community here, its safe, legal and totally beneficial to both parties
(trainee's and government ). In the meantime PMMA training center is sufficient
but not competitive on the facilities compared to private players like PNTC or
Far east, or even perhaps AMOSUP.
PRO'S
*Since its
Government Training Facility, training fees are cheap and half price (example
rPSRCB in PNTC is 2800 PHP, PMMA training center is only 1,500 PHP)
*Provides
freebie's like free COP certificates on training seminars, free breakfast and
lunch for trainees.
*PMMA name
is already an established and branded name in the maritime community in the
Philippines
CONS
*Lacks
adequate facilities like an Olympic size swimming pool, for trainee's (they
should have built two, if they have the funds like in a private training
center). Funny that it’s a naval academy and yet I don’t see any swimming pools
around the campus ??
*travel
time is horrible , 4 hours going to the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy
Campus and another 4 hours going back to manila. Overall half the day is spent
travelling.
*should
have a full size bus for travel for their trainee's and to lessen the stress of
travel like PNTC does. Which acts like a mobile advertising billboard to any
would be trainees in the future.
*Lacks the
audacity in Promoting and Advertising their training center , they should have
at least have a booth in T.M. Kalaw area to promote their inexpensive training
offers and promos. ZRC training center does that in aggressive advertising ,
PMMA Training center should copy this business tactic.
*people get intimidated hearing the word "PMMA" which is a notoriously infamous militaristic school with lots of violations on human rights. in the training center its different , totally civilian and just like attending classes in grade school
*people get intimidated hearing the word "PMMA" which is a notoriously infamous militaristic school with lots of violations on human rights. in the training center its different , totally civilian and just like attending classes in grade school
