PMA Class of 2018 sets record for female grads

BAGUIO CITY: President Rodrigo Duterte is set to attend the graduation rites of the Philippine Military Academy ( PMA), whose “Alagad ng Lahing Pinagbigkis ng Tapang at Lakas” ( Alab Tala) Class of 2018 holds the record of having the most female graduates.

This Sunday, March 18, at Fort Del

Pilar, 75 graduating female cadets will join their 207 male classmates in receiving their diplomas from President Duterte during the 2018 PMA commencement rites.

This year will see the most number of women graduating from the PMA since it the academy started accepting women cadets in 1993.

Three of the female graduating cadets are in the top 10. Cadet First Class Leonore Andrea Cariño Japitan from Amabago, Butuan City ranks fourth, Cadet First Class Jezaira Laquinon Buenaventura of Bais City, Negros Oriental is No. 6 and Cadet First Class Micah Quiambao Reynaldo of Bamban, Tarlac is at No. 10.

Another outstanding graduate is Cadet First Class Jasm Marie Alcoriza of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental who will be awarded the Athletic Saber.

All 16 regions in the country have female graduating cadets this year, with the Cordillera Administrative Region and Central Luzon having the most with 12 and 11, respectively.

Maj. Gen. Donato San Juan, the PMA superintendent, said equal opportunities and training are given to male and female cadets. “It is no longer a question, at this time, that women are capable of performing the duties that the male officers are doing in the frontline,” he said.

Last year, the PMA Salaknib (“Sanggalang ay Lakas at Bukay Para sa Kalayaan ng Inang Bayan”) Class of 2017 also made a record with female cadets occupying eight of the top 10 spots in the graduating class.

“We have had many women cadets since 1997 and they have proven themselves in the frontline service as soldiers,” San Juan said, answering queries as to whether women in the military were effective.

“It is no longer a question at this time whether they are capable of performing the duties of male doing that already,” he said, pointing out that women soldiers are given the same functions as their male counterparts.

here can attest to that— that they are assigned the same tasks as their male counterparts,” he said.

The PMA opened its doors to women cadets on April 1, 1993. with the Class of 1997. In 1999, cadet to graduate at the top of her class, Ensign Arlene de la Cruz.

In 2017, there were 66 female graduates, 34 of them going to the Philippine Army, 16 to the Air Force and 16 to the Navy.

Of the 75 female cadets graduating on Sunday, March 18, 38 will go to the Army, 19 to the Air Force, and 18 to the Navy.