History

BRIEF HISTORY OF PMI COLLEGES-BOHOL

In 1965, Admiral Tomas A. Cloma, Sr., the founder of the PMI Colleges, a lawyer by profession, and the discoverer of the Kalayaan Group of Islands organized, together with his family members the Philippine Maritime Foundation, Inc. (PMFI). The primary purpose of the foundation is to establish schools with particular emphasis in the fields of maritime, vocational, technical, and/or technological, customs administration courses and allied fields of study, social and cultural science, and humanities to afford the youth with high standard of instruction with up-to-date and modern methods and practices of educational instructions in the Philippines and abroad. On June 26, 1973, PMFI acquired the then St. James College in Tagbilaran City, Bohol and officially started its school operations under the name “Philippine Maritime Institute – Bohol”. PMFI continued the program offerings of St. James College and added new programs and courses such as the Bachelor of Customs Administration (BSCA) program, the associate degree in Marine Transportation (AMT), and other vocational and short courses. As part of one educational system under PMI Colleges, the Cloma family decided in 1977 to update and standardized the name from Philippine Maritime Institute to PMI Colleges in all campuses. The three campuses later named to PMI Colleges-Manila, PMI Colleges-Quezon City and PMI Colleges- Bohol. In 1983, PMI Colleges-Bohol opened the associate program for marine engineering (AME) and the degree on Bachelor of Arts. Upon issuance of government recognitions, the AMT became Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) in 1984 and the AME to Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering (BSMARE) in 1995. As the pioneer in maritime and customs administration education in the Province of Bohol, PMI Colleges-Bohol decided to focus on its three baccalaureate programs and ratings courses: the Bachelor of Science in Customs Administration, Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation, Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering, and the Seafarer’s Rating Course. In 1998, an extension campus was constructed in Taloto District, Tagbilaran where the laboratory facilities used in the operation of maritime programs are located, and also to meet the increasing enrollment for maritime programs. In 2018, PMI Colleges-Bohol started its High School Department and expanded to offer Senior High School Programs with strands on Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM), Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMMS), General Academic, Pre-Baccalaureate Maritime, and Technology-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) – Maritime. PMI Colleges-Bohol continues to be the major provider of competent and world class maritime and customs administration graduates and expanding its reach beyond the province of Bohol.