The cadets of Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) Class of ¬2019 were welcomed by their Japanese sponsors from the International Mariners Management Association of Japan (IMMAJ) last July 15, 2015 at the Campus Mess Hall, MAAP, Mariveles, Bataan. The welcoming program that was organized by the Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council, Inc. (PJMCC) and

MAAP officers started with the opening remarks given by MAAP President, VAdm. Eduardo Ma. R. Santos, AFP (Ret.). He highlighted the numbers of aspirants who took the MAAP entrance examination for this academic year and stressed the number of selected scholars for IMMAJ. “Nationwide, 9,688 took the entrance exams in the 50 testing centers all over the country, for IMMAJ we selected 309, 268 took their medical exams, and finally out of the 268, we selected the top 150.”

Captain. Teodoro B. Quijano, president of Barko International and representatives from IMMAJ also gave their congratulatory speeches for the cadets of class 2019. Mr. Wenifredo Sola, consultant of IMMAJ-PJMCC, also congratulated the scholars with the prepared videos showcasing the achievements of MAAP and IMMAJ on supporting Filipino seafarers from different parts of the country. He also showed a video that conveys a message of strength and courage to the cadets and then later he discussed it to them.

Representatives from IMMAJ, Capt. Quijano, VAdm. Eduardo Ma. R. Santos and together with some officials of MAAP, attached a pin on the breast pocket of each cadet, signifying the affiliation of Japan and the Philippines in the maritime industry. Capt. Quijano also had a short dialogue with MAAP faculty members after the ceremony and he told the MAAP instructors to teach with values and to continue achieving the excellence for MAAP.