The Academy ยป The PMMA Charter

The PMMA Charter

REPUBLIC ACT 3680

An act converting the present Philippine Nautical School into the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, conferring the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation, major in Navigation and Seamanship, and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering, major in Steam Engine and Electrical Engineering, providing for a merchant marine academy board, defining the board’s responsibilities and duties, and for other purposes.

Section 1. The Philippine Nautical School, located in Pasay City, Philippines, is hereby converted into the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, which will offer a nautical curriculum leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation, major in navigation and seamanship, and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering, major in steam engine and electrical engineering.

Section 2. The main purpose of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy is to produce efficient and well trained merchant marine officers who can favorably compare with marine officers of progressive maritime countries sufficient to carry the expanding international trade in times of peace and capable of serving as a naval and military auxiliary in times of war and national emergency. The secondary purpose is to produce young men well trained in other fields of the merchant marine service, like marine surveyors, port supervisors, shipping office personnel, shipping management and others.

Section 3. The head of this institution shall be known as the Superintendent of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy. He must at least be a master mariner and shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board. The powers and duties of the Superintendent in addition to those specially provided for in this Act, shall be those usually pertaining to the office of the president of a college.

Section 4. The government of said Academy is hereby vested in the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board which shall be composed of the following: The Secretary of Commerce and Industry who shall be ex-officio chairman of the board, with a representative of the Philippine Navy, the Chairman of the Board of Marine Inquiry, the Chairman of the Board of Marine Examination for Deck Officers, the chairman of the Board of Marine Examination for Marine Engineers, the President of the United Harbor Pilots Association of the Philippines, the President of the Filipino Shipowners’ Association, the President of the Philippine Marine Officers’ Guild, and the Superintendent of the Academy as members.

Members of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board shall serve without compensation, other than actual and necessary expenses incurred either in attendance upon meetings of the Board or upon official business authorized by a resolution of the Board.

Section 5. The Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board shall have the following powers and duties in addition to its general powers of administration:

  1. To confer the degree of Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation, major in navigation and seamanship, and Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering, major in steam engine and electrical engineering to successful candidates for graduation.
  2. To appoint, upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of the Academy, instructors, professors and other employees of the Academy, to fix their compensation, hours of service and other duties as it may deem proper, to grant to them leaves of absence under existing laws and regulations and to remove them from office for cause after an investigation and hearing and after, in the opinion of the Board, there is just cause for his removal.
  3. To approve the curricula and rules of discipline drawn up by the Academy Council as hereunder provided.
  4. To provide fellowships for faculty members and scholarships to students showing special evidence of merits.
  5. To provide rules for its government, and to enact for the government of the Academy such general ordinances and regulations, not contrary to law, as are consistent with the purpose of the Academy as defined in Section two of this Act.
  6. To receive in trust legacies, gifts, and donations of real and personal property of all kinds and to administer the same for the benefit of the Academy or for aid to any cadets, in accordance with the directions and instructions of the donor, and, in default thereof, in such manner as the Academy Board may, in its discretion, determine.
  7. To receive and appropriate to the ends specified by law such sums as may be provided by law for the support of the college.

Section 6. A quorum of the Academy Board shall consist of a majority of all the members. All processes against the Academy Board shall be served on the Superintendent of the Academy or secretary thereof.

Section 7. On or before the fifteenth of June of each year, the Academy Board shall file with the President of the Philippines a detailed report setting forth the progress, condition, and needs of the Academy.

Section 8. There shall be an Academy Council consisting of the Superintendent and all instructors and professors of the Academy. The Council shall have the power to prescribe the curricula and rules of discipline, subject to the approval of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board. It shall fix the requirements for admission to the Academy as well as for graduation and the receiving of a degree. The Council alone shall have the power to recommend students or others to be recipients of degrees. Through the Superintendent it shall have disciplinary power over the students within the limits prescribed by rules of discipline approved by the Academy Board.

Section 9. The body of instructors and professors of the Academy shall constitute the faculty of the Academy, with the Superintendent of the Academy as the presiding officer. In the appointment of professors or instructors of the Academy, no religious test shall be applied, nor shall the religious opinions or affiliations of the faculty of the Academy be made a matter of examination or inquiry; Provided, however, That no instructor or professor in the Academy shall inculcate sectarian tenets in any of the teachings, nor attempt either directly or indirectly, under penalty of dismissal by the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board, to influence students or attendants at the Academy for or against any particular church or religious sect.

Section 10. Professors and other regular instructors in the Academy shall be exempt as such from any civil service examinations or regulations as a requisite to appointment.

Section 11. There shall be a Secretary of the Academy appointed by the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy Board. He shall be the Secretary of the Board as well as the Academy, and shall keep such records of the Academy as may be designated by the Board.

Section 12. Graduates of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy who are holders of a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Transportation, major in navigation and seamanship, shall be exempted from taking the third mate examination, and those who are holders of a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Engineering, major in steam engine and electrical engineering, shall be exempted from taking the fourth steam engineer’s examination.

Section 13. In order not to interrupt the smooth functioning of the present four-year nautical curriculum of the Philippine Nautical School, the present Superintendent and faculty, as well as the other personnel, shall be absorbed by the new Academy. Salaries of these personnel shall be adjusted at the discretion of the Academy Board within the limits available for appropriation.

Section 14. For carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act, the sum of eight hundred thousand pesos is hereby appropriated from funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated for the fiscal year nineteen hundred sixty-three to nineteen hundred sixty-four. An additional five hundred thousand pesos is hereby appropriated for the purpose of acquiring a modern steam-powered training ship to supplement classroom instructions. Thereafter the amount of three hundred thousand pesos shall be included in the yearly General Appropriations Acts for the maintenance and operation of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy.

The sum herein appropriated shall not be released except upon certification of the Secretary of Finance and the Auditor General as to the availability of fund in excess of those necessary for the operation of the Government as provided in the annual General Appropriation Acts for the fiscal year nineteen hundred sixty-three to nineteen hundred sixty-four.

Section 15. Any provisions of existing laws inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed.

Section 16. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 22, 1963