Philippine Multimodal Transport and Logistics Association, Inc. (PMTLAI), the merged group of Philippine International Seafreight Forwarders Association (PISFA) and Aircargo Forwarders of the Philippines, Inc. (AFPI), has inducted its first set of officers and laid out its plans and objectives.
The new group on June 6 inducted its board of directors and officers for 2018-2019. Marilyn Alberto is the new president; Vicente Gregorio Sebastian, vice president for air; Irene Manguiat-Tan, vice president for sea; and Guilbert Purcia, vice president for land and appointed representative for the Cebu Chapter.
Other inductees include Josie Yap, corporate secretary; Nancy Maramba, treasurer; Bienvenido Anunciacion, auditor; Erich Lingad, PRO; Bernardita Rivadeneira, chairman of the membership committee; Maria Emperatriz Regis, chairman of the ethics committee and co-chairman of membership committee; Doris Torres, chairman of training and education committee; Leticia Jimenez, head of the social responsibility committee; Nelson Mendoza, chairman of standards committee; Ramon Benjamin De Leon, chairman of the sports and fellowship committee, with Mark Anthony Colona as co-chairman; and Colona as chairman of the ways and means committee with De Leon as co-chair.
Members of both PISFA and AFPI automatically become members of PMTLAI.
Alberto, in a speech during the induction, noted that more than two-thirds of PISFA and AFPI members on July 10, 2017 voted to consolidate the two associations “to have a unified and holistic representation of the Philippine freight forwarding and logistics industry.”
The merged group elected its first set of officers last February.
Mover and shaker
Alberto said PMTLAI’s vision is to be “catalyst and prime mover for professional excellence and global competitiveness of the Philippine transport and logistics industry.”
“We have made it our mission to enable our members to provide world-class service by providing various avenues for knowledge sharing, intensifying collaboration with government and other industry stakeholders, and initiating or supporting advocacies that will help contribute to the upliftment of the industry and the communities in which we operate,” Alberto explained.
PMTLAI’s plans and programs, she added, are geared towards achieving several objectives.
One of these is to unite international freight forwarders and logistics service providers operating in the Philippines through their membership and active involvement in all activities of the association.
Alberto said PMTLAI wants non-members to join the group, and is looking to develop satellite association branches in other key areas where member companies operate. She said PMTLAI will start with the incorporation of PMTLAI Cebu.
Raising professional standards
Another objective is to upgrade the level of professionalism and competitiveness of members through various educational programs.
Alberto said that aside from being an International Air Transport Association (IATA)-accredited training school, PMTLAI will also continue its past group’s development of a technical course on multimodal transport as it targets to be an accredited Technical Education and Skills Development Authority training center. Alberto added that PMTLAI is working to have its training programs validated by national authorities such as Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, and by international bodies such as International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Federation of Forwarders Associations.
To prepare a ready manpower pool, PMTLAI will continue collaborating with PATTS College of Aeronautics in providing core curriculum programs for their graduating students and provide a platform for internship through member companies. Alberto said her group is also eyeing similar collaborations with other schools.
PMTLAI will also intensify efforts to come up with various learning opportunities and fora on various issues that affect the industry.
Alberto said the group will be partnering with accounting firm SGV & Co. to hold seminars on tax and other related issues and, in order to add more value, will arrange to have these seminars accredited by the Professional Regulation Commission so that employee accountants of members can use these trainings in their continuing professional development.
PMTLAI is also partnering with the Department of Trade and Industry-Competitiveness Bureau (DTI-CB). As an initial project, PMTLAI organized an orientation on the Philippine Quality Awards (PQA) last May to help members gain insights on how their companies can be competitive with and comparable to world-class organizations through the PQA Program.
Aside from regular technical trainings, Alberto said PMTLAI also plans to come up with trainings on soft skills, and is appealing to more established members to share several of their best practices “so that we can elevate the quality of the Philippine multimodal transport and logistics industry as a whole.”
Industry representative
Its third objective is to represent members before any forum—government or privately sponsored conferences and meetings—and keep members abreast of any developments that affect the industry.
Fourth is to collaborate with government and private agencies in enhancing compliance and ease of doing business.
Last May, the PMTLAI Board had a dialogue with the district collector of the Bureau of Customs-Port of Manila on how to promote ease of doing business, and plans to arrange similar dialogues with other district collectors and other government agency officials as well.
PMTLAI is also closely coordinating with DTI-CB “to help them identify and address the challenges that beset our industry and our partners in business.” The group is also supporting DTI’s Philippine Export Competitiveness Program by conducting lectures on how to efficiently choose logistics services.
Furthermore, PMTLAI is in close coordination with IATA in exploring avenues for cooperation in training, data/information sharing, and addressing industry issues.
The group also forged a partnership with banking institution BDO and value-added service provider InterCommerce Network Solutions on developing PMTLAI’s electronic payment system.
Its fifth objective is to engage in meaningful advocacies “that will have positive and long- lasting effects on the lives of our chosen communities.” These include projects that will benefit the cargo community, members’ employees, the environment, and calamity-stricken areas.
With all these, Alberto is asking for the support of PMTLAI members to achieve its plans and programs.
“We have a lofty vision and mission. We have highly focused objectives. Your BOD [board of directors] have laid out numerous action plans and programs. All these, however, will not be achieved without the support and contribution of our members,” she said. – Roumina Pablo
