Japan Foreign Minister’s Commendations Awarded to Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific President VADM Eduardo Ma R. Santos

On November 10^th, 2023, Japanese Ambassador KOSHIKAWA Kazuhiko held a ceremony at his residence to celebrate the awarding of the Foreign Minister’s Commendation to Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) President Vice-Admiral Eduardo Ma R. Santos for his contribution to Japan-Philippines economic relations, especially to the maritime industry.
 
More than 30,000 Filipino seafarers work in Japanese overseas merchant fleets, making up 70% of all workers on these ships. During the ceremony, Ambassador Koshikawa expressed appreciation for VAdm Santos’ role in educating seafarers and said that the commendation is in recognition of his significant contribution not only to Japan's maritime industry but also to Japan's economic activities as a whole. 
 
VAdm Santos has worked for MAAP for more than 20 years and educated more than two thousand Filipino seafarers who work in Japan’s merchant vessels under his watch. In 2008, he made possible the construction of a new school building of the Academy in cooperation with the All Japan Seafarers' Union (JSU) and the International Mariners Management Association of Japan (IMMAJ)

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