NAMRIA participated in the first International Seafarer Family Convention and Exhibit held at the PICC Forum 2 on 04-05 August 2011. The twin events with the theme The bonds of families, the success of the world aimed to strengthen ties and promote the welfare of seafarers and their families. The events also highlighted the contribution of the maritime industry to the countrys economy.

The Agency showcased its products and services which featured nautical charts, aerial photos, topographic maps, and electronic navigational charts. The NAMRIA exhibit was collaborated by the Media Production Division of the Information Management Department and by the Hydrography Department. NAMRIAs participation in relevant exhibitions such as this one is a way to make the public aware of the Agencys mandates.

NAMRIA Administrator Peter N. Tiangco was the guest of honor and speaker during the 2011 Oathtaking and Induction Ceremony for new foresters held at the Manila Hotel on 18 August 2011. Administrator Tiangco informed the successful examinees in his speech that DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje prioritizes the hiring of all the boardpassers for the countrys National Greening Program. I salute you for choosing a profession that promises neither fame nor fortune, the Administrator likewise said. What we have as foresters is our ardent zeal to protect and preserve our forest resources, he added. There are 163 successful examinees for this years Forester Licensure Examination, which was given by the Board for Foresters in the cities of Manila and Davao last July. Mr. Lebert I. Omac of the Bohol Island State University topped the board examination with a rating of 85.90%.

A training on Basic Remote Sensing for The Bamboo Survey Research Project was conducted at the NAMRIA Geomatics Training Center and at the Remote Sensing and Resource Data Analysis Department (RSRDAD) Conference Room, respectively, on 19-22 July (Batch I) and on 26-29 July (Batch II). The participants were technical employees of the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB)-DENR.

The training was in line with NAMRIAs effort to provide continuing education to technical staff of the DENR and its line bureaus who are involved in mapping activities. Deputy Administrator for RSRDAD Efren P. Carandang welcomed the participants on the first day of the training.

Four technical staff from the RSRDAD served as the trainings resource persons. They were Senior Remote Sensing Technologists Beata D. Batadlan and Solita O. Castro, and Remote Sensing Technologists Pinky T. De Chavez and Rosalyn Sontillanosa.

The training lectures were on the following topics: accuracy assessment of classified map, digital image classification, digital image classification procedure using ENVI software, familiarization of ArcMap, GIS presentation, map layout using ArcGIS, overview of ArcGIS, visual interpretation using ArcGIS, visual interpretation using on-screen digitizing of polygons in ArcView 3.2, visual interpretation using ArcView 3.2, and principles and applications of remote sensing. Participants were also given hands-on exercises on the following: (2nd day) image mosaic, image sub-setting, image enhancement and manipulation, and supervised and unsupervised classification; (3rd day) on-screen interpretation; and (4th day) on-screen interpretation, editing and finalizing, checking accuracy, map layout and plotting.

DENR Secretary Ramon JP. Paje was in NAMRIA last 05 August for three important events: the convening of the country's top foresters; the presentation by NAMRIA to the DENR Secretary on the country's claim of extended continental shelf; and the dry run for the DENR 2012 budget hearing.

The significant day started with the meeting of the country's forestry experts who are currently occupying key positions in the academe, government and private sectors upon invitation of Secretary Paje. The Secretary, who is also a forester by profession, personally appealed to the forestry sector to support him in carrying out the National Greening Program (NGP), one of the government's flagship projects. He said that the DENR seriously needs massive seedling production, propagation, and distribution in order to cope with the NGP's target of 1.5 billion trees covering 1.5 million hectares to be planted during the term of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

In the afternoon, NAMRIA officials headed by Administrator Peter N. Tiangco showed  Secretary Paje the proposed presentation of the country's claim of extended continental shelf. The Secretary said that he will soon present the shortened version to P-Noy. Afterwards, the Secretary proceeded to the NAMRIA Lecture Hall for the dry run of the DENR 2012 budget hearing.  The Secretary led the thorough review of the proposed budget presentation of DENR  that  would be made before a panel of legislators at the House of Representatives.

President Benigno S Aquino III approved Administrative Order (AO) No. 16 on 5 July 2011 entitled, "Directing government entities to coordinate with the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) in the acquisition of data from airborne and spaceborne platforms for use in their respective projects." AO No. 16 shall apply to all government agencies, local government units (LGUs), government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), Government Corporate Entities (GCEs), Government Instrumentalities with Corporate Powers (GICPs), Government Financial Institutions (GFIs), and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs).

The AO also directs all these government entities to coordinate with the NAMRIA regarding the acquisition of data from airborne and spaceborne platforms such as aerial photographs and satellite imageries, and other related products and services for mapping purposes. They are required to submit to NAMRIA a complete inventory and index of all their data holdings within one month from the effectivity of the AO.

NAMRIA as the governments central mapping and resource information agency shall take into account the requirements of other agencies in the formulation and implementation of a nationwide development program on data acquisition, aerial photography, topographic base mapping programs, and other remote sensing mapping activities.