| Born in 1904 in the fishing
town of Panglao, Bohol, Admiral Cloma left his hometown to try his luck
in the big city of Manila, where he worked his way through school doing
odd jobs such as a shoe shine boy, a newsboy, a gasoline attendant, and
cub reporter of the Manila Bulletin. Already with a fast growing family,
he completed his law studies and successfully passed the bar in 1941.
Locally, Admiral Cloma is
known as "The Father of Maritime Education" for founding the PMI Colleges
in 1948, the country's pioneer in maritime education in the private sector
that continues to consistently produce top caliber maritime deck and engine
officers who ply both the international and domestic seas. Today, the PMI
Colleges is the country's largest institution in maritime education with
an average of 15,000 students per semester.
In 1954, Admiral Cloma began
to offer Customs Administration in the PMI Colleges, another first in the
country's private education sector, which posthumously earned for him in
2000 the first Aduana Award by the Chamber of Customs Brokers, Inc., for
his pioneering spirit in the Bachelor of Science in Customs Administration
curriculum. The graduates of Customs Administration today are the beneficiaries
of the recent Republic Act Number 9280 also known as the "Customs Brokers
Act of 2004".
Vice Admiral Tomas A. Cloma
is internationally known as the discoverer of the Kalayaan Group of Islands
that he called "Freedomland" and which is better known as the Spratley
Islands. His discovery in the early 1950's resulted in his incarceration
during the Martial Law years until he gave up his personal claim in favor
of the Philippine government.
Today, Admiral Cloma's discovery
is the basis of the Philippines' claim to the controversial islands that
is also being contested by several other Asian countries.
Months before his death in
1996, Admiral Cloma was bestowed the Presidential Legion Honor, Degree
of Legionnaire award by former President Fidel V. Ramos for his discovery
of the Kalayaan Group of Islands and the establishment of the PMI Colleges. |
