By Liza Agoot/PNA
BAGUIO CITY — A total of 253 male and 62 female cadets will be recognized by the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Corps of Cadets on Sunday, the academy’s chief information officer has said.
“Recognition rites signifies the acceptance of the fourth-class cadets by the upper-class corps, how these new cadets behave and act, including the posture of having a straight back, after being subjected to pressures from the upper-class corps, academics, military and physical aspect for more than six months,” Col. Harry Baliaga said Friday.
Class BAGSIK DIWA, which stands for “Bagong Sibol sa Kinabukasan Mandirigma Hanggang Wakas”, formally joined the military service during their reception as plebes in June 2018.
Prior to their acceptance, a total of 15,502 took the entrance exam on August 20, 2017. A total of 1,015 took the complete qualifying test and 450 reported during the reception. They will graduate in 2022, joining the three branches of service — Army, Air Force or Navy.
Baliaga said that after being recognized, the plebes will no longer be subjected to rigid scrutiny and the rules will loosen up a little.
“They have been tested and have proven that they can be members of the cadet corps of the country’s premier military institution,” he said, adding that the cadet has understood and imbibed the PMA’s motto of “Courage, Integrity and Loyalty”.
As a tradition, the cadet is given stricter rules upon entering the academy, which they call the “reception”. Over three months, the plebe cadets go through a rigid process of adapting to the system and the life of a cadet and a military, including changing their posture from slouching to having a good “bearing” (cadet term for having a straight back) to look more dignified.
They will then be incorporated as members of the Cadet Corps Armed Forces of the Philippines (CCAFP) in rites called “incorporation”.
Six months after comes “recognition”, the conferment of them having adapted to the life, allowing them to go through the four years of rigorous training to complete their military studies.
