• Shield – The shield represents our class resiliency to swerve all the challenges amidst great difficulties in our lives.  Also, as reserve-navies, it symbolizes our class as defenders of our family, alma mater, and country.

 

• Wheel Circling a Compass Rose embedded with 22 – As for our class, this symbolism represents navigation towards our dream guided by a compass that will sail us to the right direction for us to achieve the mission and vision of our alma mater.

 

• Ropes and Chains – Ropes and chains signify camaraderie and the strong bond we have as a class. This suggests that no matter how far we go in our lives, we will always pull back each other to the place where all our dream has started off.  

 

• Flags of East and West Campus – These flags do not give distinction to both campuses. It implies us that despite being separated from each other; the west and east campus will always have that strong connections and bonding as a class.

 

• 7 spears – The seven spears represent the seven deadly seas that we will encounter as future officers onboard ship. This also portrays the risk and danger associated with our future profession.

 

• Torch – the flaming torch embodies our strong desire to be the best versions of our owns. It also expresses the ability of our class to serve as a guiding light for one another in times of mishap and perplexity.  For we believe with the principle that lighting the way for others, brightens the path for ourselves as well.

 

• 19 Gems and a diamond – The 19 precious gems represent our forerunners or the 19 batches who came before us. On the other hand, the single diamond or the 20th stone entrenched in the middle signifies our class as the unflinching 20th batch of this academy. It also entails our mission and vision to be the finest batch amongst all the previous classes that MAAP has ever had.

 

• Ancient symbol of rebirth – This ancient tattoo means rebirth or son. According to our President VADM Eduardo Ma. R. Santos AFP(Ret.), MAAP at this stint is on its rebirth because of the new breeds of midshipmen and women who are products of the K-12 – which is us. Thus, we entitled our class as “Sons of rebirth”.

 

• Knight’s helmet – This helmet represents our semi-regimental training inside the academy. It alludes that in times of war or conflict, we will serve as defenders of our country since we are reserve navies.

 

• Class Guardian (Dunkleosteus loricaruptor) - it is a very bizarre fairly large fish that is as size of the elephant, covered head to tail in armored plates, with incredibly powerful jaws. It tends to eat the Island's water-dwelling crustaceans trawling the seabed, as it is not fast enough to catch most of the smaller fish. Dunkleosteus is surprisingly combat-oriented for a fish. Its well-armored body protects it from many creatures, while its bite is strong enough to easily crush through chitinous shells.

 

        We have chosen Dunkleosteus as our class guardian because of its attributes that we believe we possessed as a class.  Like its regenerative ability, we will always be resilient in any adversity that will come and challenge us. We’ll simply march-off to the beat of adversity or circumstances in our lives.

 

3 Pillars

 

Prudentia (Prudence) – Prudence is the quality of being wise in all practical affairs. A prudent person shows special care or thought towards matters of the future as well as good judgement or foresight. Inside the academy, we are labelled as the “Most-Intelligent Batch” that MAAP has ever had. However, this sort of branding has nothing to do when we go onboard ship. Yes, being intelligent onboard ship could really help us. But what matters most is how we work well, effectively and efficiently with others. As future officers, we will continuously uphold this pillar. 

 

Mollitiam (Resilience) – No one is exempted with the adversity of life. The effect of adversity depends on how you view and take them. For our class, rather than letting difficulties or failure overcome us and drain our resolve, we always find a way to rise from the ashes. On the other hand, resilience isn’t about “toughing it out” or reacting to every setback with a smile. Just like in our class, we still feel sad, angry, or frustrated when faced with a setback. But we make sure to find ways to move forward, to tackle challenges with creativity, hope, and a positive attitude. Furthermore, this pillar infers that our class will always be resilient no matter how difficult the situation is in order for us to meet the demands of the maritime industry as future officers onboard ship.

 

Humilitatem (Humility) – Humility is the quality of being humble. Simple it may seem to be, but a lot of people are having a difficult time achieving this quality.  Since the very beginning, we were always taught of the importance of keeping our feet rooted on the ground. We were taught that no matter how far and great we become, we should always remember and look back where we have started. Moreover, humility is one of our pillars because as a class we believe that humbling down ourselves before others is a sign that we maturely grow as what our late father Capt. Gregorio S. Oca once envisioned.