GIZ PCGP2 Project holds GIS Training for NMC and other maritime agencies

The GIZ project "Support to the Philippine Coast Guard in Securing the Rules-based International Order in the Indo-Pacific Phase II (PCGP2)," in partnership with the National Maritime Center (NMC) organised a 3-day Basic Geographic Information Systems (GIS) training workshop, 27-29 August 2024 in Manila.  

Twenty-five participants represented the National Maritime Center and seven of its attached agencies: The Philippine Coast Guard, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Navy, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, and the Philippine Space Agency. 

The workshop is part of the capacity development component of the PCGP2. The course covered topics and exercises on introduction to GIS, and mapping and applications using QGIS Software. 

CG CDR Severino B. Destura Jr., Chief of the Information Operation Group at the National Maritime Center, in his opening remarks, thanked the Project, and shared that the Center has the challenge of putting together different maritime agencies with different mandates but activities like the GIS training allow the agencies to use information in a more systematic way. 

In his closing message, NMC Director CG VADM Roy A. Echeverria, delivered by NMC staff Maria Christina Madera, expressed his gratitude on behalf of the NMC and the concerned agencies to the German Federal Foreign Office, the German Embassy, GIZ and the Project team. He shared that investing in skills and competencies of maritime personnel is important in strengthening Maritime Law Enforcement and Security.  

PCGP2 Project Manager Maurizio Noll shared about how the Project, commissioned by German Federal Foreign Office (AA) through the Enhancement Initiative, aims to help capacitate agencies in Maritime Law Enforcement and Security, leveraging on the benefits of GIS training that can be used effective planning, policy implementation and resource allocation.  

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 57 series of 2024, the National Maritime Center is the central hub of information on matters relevant to the Maritime Security (MARSEC) and Maritime Domain Awareness and shall implement and coordinate MARSEC Operations.