Stop the hazing: All PMA cadets should be on equal footing

Cadet 4th class Darwin Dormitorio, a lowerclassman, was laid to rest, having died from wounds inflicted on him by his upperclassmen. To the family, his death is painfully tragic; to the defense establishment, it is another disaster; to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), a blemish on an otherwise prestigious institution; to the country, another waste of our most precious resource.

As usual, the Armed Forces of the Philippines once again said it will carry out reforms to prevent the recurrence of hazing once and for all. This must have been said countless times before, as I remember, from tales, the first death due to hazing at the PMA was inflicted on a cadet in 1936, when the lowerclassman was interred in a refrigerator.

To be sure, hazing erupts because of the existence of the lowerclassman-upperclassman relationship. Break the chain that binds this relationship, and hazing will disappear. If not, no matter how much band aid is applied, Murphy’s Law — “whatever can go wrong will go wrong” — will take its endless course.

Simply put, I mean that no upperclassman should ever or can ever exercise power over a lowerclassman. Only the officer corps at the PMA should exercise this power. It means, too, that it is only an officer who can order a cadet to do anything. Lastly, it means that the cadets at all levels are on equal footing.

To my mind, this is the way to break the chain, and so, as the chain is broken, let the cadets, from among themselves, develop respect, friendship and camaraderie with each other. The rigorous training must continue and preserve the high academic standards that make the PMA a prestigious institution.

Eliminate hazing, and better qualified young boys and girls will be attracted to enter the PMA. The result will be a better officer corps and, hopefully, the military dynasty now controlled by PMA graduates in the whole security apparatus of the Republic will slowly fade away.

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, “Change is the only constant in life.” Thus, in the many decades that the PMA has existed, it is time that its sordid tradition of hazing is excised.

Will the elimination of hazing lower the quality of the AFP officer corps? Consider the following: Many, if not most, of the greatest armies in the world have no hazing; the British Army trains its officers only for a period of 44 weeks; the Israel Defense Forces do not even have a military academy to source its officers from; officers of the Canadian and Australian armed forces are commissioned by civilian schools; the United States has four-year military academies, but its people’s culture does not lend to hazing.

I had two sons who entered the Academy. I knew they were hazed, but if they were to enter today, I would advise them to defend themselves whenever they would be maltreated. It is better this way, rather than receive any of them home in a casket.

ANTONIO E. SOTELO
Lieutenant General AFP (Ret)
antonio.e.sotelo@gmail.com