Top PNPA grad vows to do what’s morally right
Graduating at the top of his class, a police cadet from Negros Occidental vowed in his valedictory speech to do only what is morally right as he embarks on a career as a police officer.
“As future public safety officers, we will always know what is right, and not doing what is right is worse than corruption,” Inspector Fritz John Vallador, son of an overseas worker and an absentee father, said in his speech before officers and fellow cadets of the Maragtas class at the Philippine National Police Academy’s 39th commencement exercises at Camp General Mariano Castañeda in Silang, Cavite yesterday.
“It will be plain cowardice not to do what is morally right. For sure, the PNPA Class of 2018 are brave men and women and are not cowards to do what is morally wrong,” he said.
The 24-year-old Vallador emphasized that officers like him should always be ready to face the consequences of their actions.
He also called on his 105 classmates – including 27 females – to uphold the virtues of justice and fair play and other values they learned in the academy.
“Justice is simply the virtue that promotes fair play. It is to reward the good and to punish the evil. Integrity is not only
pure honesty but keeping up the ethical standards through time,” he said.
“We shall only be indebted forever to the Filipino people but we will always be committed to serve the people at all times,” he said.
Vallador, a resident of Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental, and 75 of his classmates are set to join the Philippine National Police (PNP), while 17 will join the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology. The remaining 13 have opted for assignments with the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Vallador, according to his guardian Nelia Deocares, will join the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) in compliance with instructions from PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.
“He (Vallador) will train after this. There is already an order from General Dela Rosa that they should train in SAF,” Deocares told reporters.
She praised Vallador’s dedication and perseverance despite his initial uncertainty about entering the PNPA.
“He was indecisive before he entered the academy. Now, he is a strongwilled person,” she said.
Vallador’s mother, Ana Maria, was not present during the graduation as she is currently working in Spain. The new police officer had never known his father.
He said he had once questioned God’s existence because of trials and hardships during his childhood. He had a change of heart when Deocaras and her husband Edwin took him in despite their having three children of their own.
“In my hours of loneliness at night, I just think of them and remember what joy we have in eating together with decent food they can provide for us children. I would smile to myself before going to sleep, thinking that all of them are OK back home,” he said.