02/2016 Volume 12 Issue 1 Ambassador Carlos Salinas Conferred with the Order of Sikatuna PTC congratulates Ambassador Carlos C. Salinas on his being honored with the Order of Sikatuna Rank of Grand Cross (Datu), Gold Distinction, by President Benigno S. Aquino III at a ceremony held at the Reception Hall of Malacañan Palace last January 11, 2016. The Order of Sikatuna is conferred upon individuals for their outstanding and meritorious service to the Republic of the Philippines in the development and promotion of political, economic, and cultural relations with other countries. Ambassador Salinas, who was enrolled in the roster of the Order of Sikatuna, was recognized for his exceptional service to the country as Philippine Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Spain and the Principality of Andorra. Over the last five years, Ambassador Salinas worked towards the accomplishment of his vision for the Philippines to assume its rightful place on the world stage. Towards this end, through his efforts, the Spanish Congress issued an Official Declaration pronouncing Spain’s commitment towards the enhancement of Spanish - Philippine economic cooperation, with Spain serving as the gateway for the Philippines into Europe and Latin America, and vice versa. At the ceremony, Ambassador Salinas was recognized for the following achievements: forging increased Philippine-Spain defense cooperation; pursuing important research that led to the discovery of historical documents that strengthened the country’s claim over Bajo de Masinloc; promoting Philippine maritime interests in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Maritime Safety Authority (EMSA); arranging for important visits of Philippine government officials to better understand Spain’s experience in managing its various Autonomous Regions, thus contributing to peace-building efforts in the Southern Philippines; and negotiating numerous economic and cultural exchange initiatives such as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Philippine Department of Tourism and the Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior (ICEX) España Exportación e Inversiones of Spain for the conduct of Madrid-Fusión-Manila, among others. Coming full circle, Ambassador Salinas was witness to the largest investments ever made by a Filipino businessman, not only in Spain, but in all of Europe, in the food and beverage industry, as well as, in real estate, where today the Filipino flag flies proudly outside one of Madrid’s tallest buildings. In his own way, Ambassador Salinas, as founder of the PTC Group, has remained true to the company’s vision of “moving the world, in more ways than one.” PHILCAMSAT Achieves HELM Recognition from the Merchant Navy Training Board The Philippine Center for Advanced Maritime Simulation and Training (PHILCAMSAT) has recently received recognition from the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB), the shipping industry’s central body for promoting Royal Caribbean Cruises to Increase and developing sector specific education, training and Hiring of Filipinos skills, for its Management Level Program Course on Human Element Leadership and Management (HELM). Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) has announced The recognition, valid from January 1 to June 30, 2016, plans to hire more Filipino talent, targeting to add another certifies that the course offered by PHILCAMSAT meets 10,000 Filipino crew members to their current pool of 20,000 the latest mandatory syllabus requirements as laid down over the next five years. This was announced by RCCL by the MNTB. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain during a press briefing held last January 26, 2016 at the Sofitel Manila. The recognition was formally granted during a simple ceremony held in London last February 4 attended by Glenys Jackson, MNTB Head; Adrian Mundin, Nautical Manager, Safety & “Filipinos represent our company’s largest group of At Sea Environment at the UK Chamber of Shipping; Dr. Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr., Maritime Industry employees,” said Paul T. Parker, Chief Human Resources Authority Administrator; Karen Avelino, PTC Executive Director; and Gerardo Borromeo, PTC Officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Excelling in a range of CEO. PHILCAMSAT commenced the initial run of its HELM course last January 4 to 8 at its shipboard positions across RCCL’s various luxury cruise line training facility at First Maritime Place in Makati. Intended for a ship’s top officers: captain, chief brands, Filipino crew members are instrumental in helping mate, master, chief engineer or second engineer; the 5-day course aims to help participants “Deliver the Wow!” to the cruise giant’s passengers from all demonstrate effective behavior and critical thinking in the face of challenging situations on over the world. He added that RCCL is “grateful to PTC for board. HELM is comprised of comprehensive lectures and simulation exercises which include their continued partnership and guidance,” through which sessions that allow participants to recount to one another their challenging experiences on they have been able to continue to harness the competency board and how they managed these situations. With the guidance of a well-experienced lecturer and talents of PTC’s global maritime professionals. and a professional psychologist, participants were trained on managing life-threatening situations on board through proper The move to increase the hiring of Filipinos comes as resource management, good teamwork and the exercise of RCCL continues to take advantage of the many tourism leadership skills. opportunities in the Philippines, adding exciting local destinations such as Manila and Boracay into their cruise HELM classes are scheduled every week and is offered for itineraries. Ships from RCCL’s Azamara Club Cruises, free to all IMEC Members. A course fee applies to Non-IMEC Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International members. Interested parties may register by calling (02) 898- have made port calls in the Philippines over the past few 1174 or 798-1111 loc 3007. years, with many more still on the way, bringing with them thousands of foreign tourists to experience that it is truly More Fun in the Philippines. Northern Star Achieves ISO 9001 Certification Northern Star Energy Corporation has received ISO 9001-2008 Certification for its Quality Management System following an audit conducted last November 5 to 6, 2015 by international certification body and classification society, DNV-GL. The certification is an affirmation of Northern Star’s commitment to provide consistent and reliable service to its valued customers and partners. With the Certification which is valid for three years, Northern Star is poised to continually raise the bar on customer satisfaction through the regular review and constant enhancement of its Quality Management System and annual surveillance audits. Concurrently, Northern Star has been expanding in Northern Luzon to bring its network to a total of 46 stations. Among the company’s 2015 highlights are the establishment of its new Caltex Service Station in Laoag City, and the addition of the Mt. Province area into its LUISA Branded Marketer (BM) territory. In November, Northern Star acquired the Caltex Session Road station in Baguio and purchased BM assets for North East Luzon from BMS Tagorda Co. Inc. in December. Closing the year, Northern Star assumed the rights for the BM areas of Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Cagayan, Ifugao, Aurora and Quirino. RCCL Chairman and CEO Richard Fain speaking to the press. PTC Sets All Hands on Deck As it enters its 37th year, the PTC Celebrity Millennium Visits Boracay Group embarks on an organization- The MS Celebrity Millennium of Celebrity Cruises wide campaign dubbed as “The PTC made a call on the island of Boracay, Aklan last Group on the Move...All Hands on January 26 as part of its 14-Night Vietnam and Deck!” This very timely endeavor is Philippine Cruise. Departing from Singapore, designed to drive the PTC Group to Celebrity Millennium docked at Vietnam, further evolve into a total, integrated Hongkong and Manila before stopping in Aklan. human capital development To commemorate the vessel’s inaugural visit to enterprise providing world-class the island, an exchange of plaques between the Aklan Provincial Government, talents, products and services sustained by passion, strategy, technology, Department of Tourism Region VI, the Local Government Unit of Malay and processes and people. Celebrity Cruises was conducted on board the luxury ship. The campaign will be formally launched at the company’s anniversary Meanwhile, the 2,138 passengers and 920 crewmembers of the ship were celebration this month and will be implemented through a series of welcomed by Ati-atihan dancers at Cagban Port before going on a one-day informative and engaging activities scheduled throughout the year for excursion around the island’s pristine beaches. all PTC Group employees. To reinforce this program, a Leadership and The ship then continued its voyage to Kota Personal Effectiveness (LEADPEP) Workshop was conducted for Kinabalu, Malaysia before returning to Singapore. senior officers of the PTC Group last January 20 to 23. The LEADPEP Celebrity Millennium is the first luxury cruise ship was spearheaded by Mr. Ramon Medina and Ms. Geraldine Baricaua to visit Boracay this year and will return to the and was the first of a series of training seminars to be conducted in the island on November 22, 2016. months ahead. Largest Human Anchor Formed at the University of Antique About 6,000 students