CELEBRATING over five decades of steering the nation’s seafaring and shipping sectors, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) marked its 52nd founding anniversary on Monday, June 1, with a clear, resounding mandate from leadership to shed mediocrity, embrace compassion, and anchor all operations in the pursuit of a safer, greener, and more sustainable maritime future.
Under the banner theme “Serving Better, Sailing Safer,” Marina Administrator Sonia Malaluan rallied the agency’s workforce to elevate their public service standards, reminding them of Marina’s massive influence on the lives of millions of Filipinos who rely on the archipelago’s waters.
Malaluan encouraged each employee to challenge themselves, always aim for the best, and remain driven by the same zest and enthusiasm they held when first applying to work at the agency.
To achieve this vision of institutional excellence, Malaluan outlined a strategic framework for the workforce built on the “3Ds” of Dedication, Determination, and Discipline. She defined dedication as maintaining a passionate drive to serve respective roles within the evolving maritime landscape, while determination requires remaining resilient and open to constructive criticism to complete complex tasks. Discipline, she added, entails strictly respecting and adhering to administrative rules and regulations, no matter how simple they may seem. Malaluan noted that having genuine care, or “pakialam,” is the ultimate ingredient needed to protect the welfare of both domestic commuters and global Filipino seafarers.
This call to eliminate mediocrity arrives on the heels of a highly active six months for the agency, during which Marina translated its policy goals into tangible structural advancements while navigating global crises and driving digital and green transformations. On the international stage, the Philippines successfully retained its place on the International Labour Organization (ILO) list for Seafarer’s Identity Document (SID) compliance and secured reelection to the highly competitive International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council under Category C.
Furthermore, Marina paired with international partners like Belgium to advance “Project Olivia” for women’s empowerment and established a pioneering training framework for alternative fuels, preparing Filipino seafarers for the global shift toward decarbonization.
Domestically, the agency aggressively pushed its digital modernization agenda by integrating seafarer documentation through the Mismo system, ship-related transactions via M-Best, and transitioning Seafarer’s Record Book and SID applications seamlessly into the national eGov PH App.
Amid ongoing global volatility, Marina also issued critical extensions for STCW certificates and identity documents for crew members caught in the Middle East crisis, while simultaneously issuing clearer, fairer documentation penalty rules under Advisory 2026-29 to shield seafarers from unnecessary financial burdens.
To boost the domestic fleet, the agency enacted Memorandum Circular MD-2026-02 to expand the pool of qualified officers for local trade across roughly 1,400 Philippine-registered vessels. Most notably, the agency teamed up with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on May 25 to officially launch the Layag Program (Lakbay Alalay ng Gobyerno). Under Marina Advisory 2026-20, this sea-based service contracting initiative rolls out a critical P200-million fare subsidy across 11 key domestic routes, directly absorbing recent fare increases to shield an estimated 10 million maritime commuters from the economic pressures of soaring global fuel costs.
As Marina moves into its 53rd year, its legislative agenda remains tightly focused on passing the Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Development Bill and the Philippine Ship Registry Bill, which are measures designed to attract massive foreign investments and multiply local maritime jobs. Reflecting on the hard operational data and systemic policy updates achieved over her tenure, Malaluan expressed absolute confidence that the agency possesses the internal grit to fulfill its mandates.
Witnessing the agency’s work during her more than two years as administrator, she concluded with certainty that these 3Ds exist within most of the workforce, closing with a call to serve better and ensure ships sail safer.
