‘Embody courage, integrity, and loyalty’
DUTERTE AT PMA GRADUATION RITES
President Duterte has urged the new Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduates to be the “protectors of our nation” and “instruments of meaningful change” in the country.
Addressing the PMA Alab-Tala Class of 2018 during the commencement rites in Baguio
City, the President said the new military officers should embody the values of courage, integrity and loyalty as they dedicate their lives in the service of God, country and people.
Duterte also advised them to “stay with the Constitution, stay in the chain of command, love the Filipino people that you serve.”
“To the ‘Alab Tala’ Class of 2018, this achievement is only the beginning of the many future successes. May you continue to become a source of strength and inspiration to your fellow soldiers and instruments of meaningful change in our society,” Duterte said.
“The Filipino people look up to you as the protectors of our nation and the next leaders of tomorrow,” he said in congratulating the 282-strong PMA graduating class that included 75 female cadets.
The President advised the PMA class to brace for “complex” and “bigger challenges” ahead as they start to serve in the chosen military branch of service. Among the threats mentioned by the President were terrorism and illegal drug trade.
He said mistakes would always be “inevitable” but the PMA graduates should have confidence in knowing they were honed by the academy for responsibilities in the military.
“You have been equipped with the knowledge and skills to excel but how far can you go will depend greatly on your discipline, determination and faith,” he said.
“Remember always the three words that have been ingrained deeply in your hearts — courage, integrity and loyalty. Embody these words and use them to guide your actions throughout your careers,” he added.
Duterte acknowledged that the PMA graduates’ courage and bravery were tested many times while studying at the academy. “Despite all of these trials, you have emerged victorious and ready to take on bigger challenges ahead,” he said.
Bigger pay, better equipment
Meantime, the President has assured the government’s support for the military, from increasing salary and allowance to upgrading their equipment and improving their benefits.
“As you dedicate your life in the service of God, country and people, know that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has the government’s full support,” he said.
With the approval of Joint Resolution (JR) No. 1, Duterte said the increase in base pay of military and uniformed personnel has been authorized which will also result to an increase in bonuses and allowances.
He said the administration was also implementing “Second Horizon of the Revised AFP Modernization Program” wherein priority projects are currently in several stages of completion.
The modernization program aims “to ensure that our men and women in uniform are provided the benefits and armed with the equipment to perform their duties effectively,” according to Duterte.
“At no other time except maybe one president that we have addressed the problem of the Armed Forces of the Philippines profoundly,” he said.
“I would want that before I get out of the presidency, I would have left behind a strong Armed Forces and PNP simply because these troubles now that we are facing will not disappear within the next four to seven to 10 years,” he added.
Digong and Leni Unlike last year, President Duterte made sure this time that he greeted Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo in his address at the PMA graduation rites.
Robredo, who came in a marooncolored dress, was first in the list of top officials greeted by Duterte at the start of his speech.
With all eyes on their chance meeting for the first time this year, the President even turned around upon his greeting to Robredo on stage.
“Vice President Ma. Leonor Robredo, ma’am,” said Duterte. “Magkaibigan
kami ni ma’am (We are friends),” he said.
His remark drew laughter and applause from the audience.
The country’s two highest leaders, who had a falling out over political differences, appeared together in public as they both attended the PMA graduation ceremony.
Before the start of the two-hour graduation rites, Duterte was seen greeting and shaking hands with Robredo. This was the first time that the two top government officials in the country met this year.
During the ceremony, Duterte was the one who handed the certificates to the graduates. He also awarded the Presidential Saber to 25-year-old Cader First Class Jaywardene Hontoria who topped batch 2018.
Robredo, on the other hand, awarded the Vice Presidential Saber to Cadet First Class Ricardo Liwaden.
‘A different breed’
In his Valedictory Address, Cadet First Class Jaywardene Galilea Hontoria, said he was a skillful farm boy and would have stuck with it had it not been for the prodding of his father for him to dream his way into the PMA.
Paying tribute to his father, Hontoria shared what words had encouraged him towards the path he took. “Son, it is much easier and lighter to carry a pen than to hold a plow. You should study hard instead,” his father Oscar had told him.
And so Hontoria said he learned that life in the academy was never easy as they were pushed beyond their physical, mental and psychological limits. “It is a life of orders and followership, a life of endless limitations, restrictions, a life of discipline, a life that has broken us down into pieces and then slowly brings the broken pieces together for us to be whole again,” Hontoria said.
While admitting that reports of soldiers dying in the battlefield stoked fear in them, he and his fellow graduates remain steadfast because they did not join the institution just for its pay and perks.
“But we are a different breed, of a different purpose with a different story.
We have given up our own mission and goals in life, for something bigger than our own.”
Hontoria graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at West Visayas
State University before joining the PMA. He will join the Philippine Marines. (With reports from Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos, Raymund L. Antonio, and Francis T. Wakefield)