Years of Philippine Military cademy’s no le tradition

THE Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the premier military institution whose motto is “Courage, Integrity, Loyalty” celebrates its 117th anniversary on October 25, with religious rites, a parade and review, a sports competition and exhibition, and presentation of awards to outstanding faculty members. The training ground for future officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the PMA molds the character and values of young Filipinos, through broad, well-rounded education and skills training for lifelong service to country and people.

Established on October 25, 1898 as the Academia Militar in Malolos, Bulacan, by the Aguinaldo government, it became the Officer’s School of the Philippine Constabulary on February 17, 1905, in Intramuros, Manila. It was relocated to Baguio City on September 1, 1908, first at Camp Henry P. Allen, later to its present home in Fort del Pilar, Loakan. The Philippine Legislature renamed it on September 8, 1926 to Philippine Constabulary Academy. Commonwealth Act No. 1, the National Defense Act of December 21, 1936, formally created the PMA, authorizing it to confer a bachelor’s degree on its graduates. Disrupted by the war, the academy reopened on May 5, 1947, with a curriculum patterned after the US West Point.

In 1993, the PMA was transformed into a “tri-service academy” with specialized, branch-of-service courses in last two years to train the elite corps of cadets to be field, fleet, or squadron-ready, for commission into any of three major branches of service – Army, Air Force, and Navy. Republic Act 7192, the Women in Development and Nation-Building Act, admitted for the first time female cadets into the PMA, similar to American military schools.

Most of the country’s top military and police officers today are PMA graduates. Cadets and cadettes are trained to be responsible, capable leaders. The regimen brings out the best in individuals who successfully hurdle it. The PMA graduation ceremony is a most significant activity; to first-class men, it is their last day as cadets symbolized by tossing of the shako, before they join the AFP officer corps. To fourth-class cadets, it marks the end of plebe year.

The cadet corps strictly adheres to the Honor Code – “the cadets do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do” – which distinguishes them from students of other institutions. The academy believes that education must develop the “total person” and that learning is not limited to development of the intellect; it includes physical education, acquisition of knowledge, development of skills, habits, attitudes, and values required by a chosen branch of service. The PMA four-year techno-scientific curriculum has three components: Core Program, Major Area Elective Program, and Professional Courses Program.