SM Supermalls has recently inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Joint Ship Manning Group (JMG) for the inclusion of the seafarers and their families in SM’s Global Pinoy Program.
The agreement, signed by SM Prime Holdings Inc. President Hans Sy Jr. and JMG Chairman Eduardo Manese opened SM’s Global Pinoy Centers nationwide as an added venue for JMG’s projects and programs. It would also serve as a gateway to access more information and job opportunities in the maritime industry. The program would also entitle seafarers and their families an access to the exclusive amenities of the Global Pinoy Centers, such as currency exchange and remittance services, free Internet use, program rewards and other privileges.
At any given time, there are about 300,000 Filipino seafarers aboard vessels, from cruise liners to oil rigs. The Philippines supplies about 30 percent of the seafarers’ population worldwide.
SM Prime is the country’s largest operator of a chain of fully integrated, multilevel retail shopping, dining, entertainment, educational and leisure complexes; while the JMG is a nonstock, nonprofit umbrella organization of maritime and manning associations in the Philippines. JMG’s member-associations include the Filipino Association for Mariners’ Employment Inc. (Fame), Filipino Shipowners’ Association, International
Maritime Association of the Philippines (Intermap), Philippine Association of Manning Agencies and Ship managers Inc. (Pamas), and Philippine-Japan Manning Consultative Council Inc.
Photo shows (from left, front row) Annie Garcia, president, SM Supermalls; Herbert Sy; Manese; and Engr. Sammuel Lim, director, JMG. Joining them are (from left, back row) Glenn Ang, vice president for operations, SM Supermalls; Gerardo Borromeo, director, JMG; lawyer Vincent Miranda, director, JMG, and president, Intermap; Christopher Dumatol, president, Sealanes Services Inc.; Luanne Peralejo, Sealane Services Inc.; lawyer Imelda Barcelona, director, JMG; Capt. Emmanuel Regio, director, JMG; Ericson Marquez, director, JMG, and president, Fame; Pedro Miguel Oca, co-chairman/president, Pamas; and Capt. Teodoro Quijano, director, JMG.