Homecoming

On the SAF 44.

The Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association Inc. (PMAAA), through its chair, Maj. Gen. Jose Maria Solquillo, issued a call for the national government “to conduct an impartial and in-depth investigation” on the Mamasapano massacre of 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force. In joining a nation grieving over the loss of comrades in the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police, the association believes that the massacre “must not be allowed to pass as a political concession or appeasement.” The association cautioned that the security of people in Mindanao must be taken into account “in the light of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law [BBL] to prevent greater problems to transpire or emerge thereafter.”

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My classmate Joe Almonte is launching his much-awaited memoirs, “Endless Journey,” as told to Marites

Dañguilan-Vitug. This will be on Wednesday at 4 p.m., Feb. 25, at the Kalayaan Hall, Club Filipino, Greenhills.

As Joe put it, “Building our nation is a continuing struggle, a collective work in progress. It is an endless journey, like a relay, without end. All we can do is pass on the baton—forged in the core values our heroes died for: dignity, honor, freedom, justice, self-determination, peace—to the next runner, to the next generation.”

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It is the time of the year when thousands of PMA alumni, young and old, return to their alma mater not just to relive memories of the past but also perhaps to rekindle some of the virtues of courage, integrity and loyalty that may have been diminished by service in a world vastly different from what they knew during their stay in the academy.

This year, the keynote speaker for homecoming activities was Gen. Eduardo SL Oban Jr., former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and presently the executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement. Oban belongs to PMA Class 1979 and is the second member of the class to serve as AFP chief. The first, Gen. Jessie Dellosa, is now a deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Customs. The cadet first captain or baron of the class was Samuel Pagdilao Jr. Only recently he was elected to Congress through the party-list system after retiring from the Philippine National Police.

A special guest during the program was Gen. Thawip Poonsiri Netniyom, commanding general of the Development Command of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Thawip graduated from the PMA in 1981, finishing at the top of his class. The No. 2 man was Chung V. Chee from Singapore. Class 1981 produced two AFP chiefs, Gen. Emmanuel Bautista and the current head, Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang. The first captain of the class was Catalino Cuy, now a member of the PNP’s Board of Inquiry looking into the Mamasapano massacre.

As in previous years, special places of honor were reserved for the Diamond Jubilarians—60 years (Class 1955), Golden Boys—50 years (Class 1965), and Silver Jubilarians—25 years (Class 1990).

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A few notes on the PMA.

For the benefit of those not too familiar with the institution, it is important to understand the beginnings of the academy because it is part of our military history.

For many years, my alma mater, the PMA, traced its roots to the Constabulary School set up by Brig. Gen. Henry T. Allen during the early years of American colonial presence. As Philippine Constabulary chief, Allen issued General Order No. 71 on Feb. 17, 1905, setting up this training facility for native police officers. For this reason, PMA Foundation Day is reckoned from that date.

Unfortunately, for a long time, we failed to appreciate the fact that the Constabulary School was set up primarily to train native officers for use in the pacification campaign against so-called bandits or tulisanes who, in truth, were freedom fighters waging guerilla warfare against American forces during the early colonial period.

There is a need to reexamine Philippine history and to honor the maligned and forgotten heroes of our struggle for independence as well as to rectify foreign-inspired historical distortions.

After extensive research, Dr. Cesar Pobre, a former dean of the AFP Corps of Professors and a vice chair of the Philippine History Foundation, came upon the fact that “as part of the major organizational efforts at modernizing the Filipino armed forces, the President of the Revolutionary Government, Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, had issued a decree on October 25, 1898, establishing an Academia Militar in the town of Malolos, Bulacan.”

As part of his work on a master’s degree in history at the University of the Philippines, he published a paper titled “A Historical Analysis of the Roots and Growth of the Philippine Military Academy.” In this paper, he was able to establish the following:

• The date and place where the Academia Militar was set up
• Its mission and objectives
• The name of its designated director
• The date the sessions began and the sections into which the class was divided
• The different subjects composing a course of instruction
• The manner of treating failures

His findings led him to believe that the Academia Militar and not the Constabulary School set up by Allen had a “better title to being PMA’s historical anchor.” This view was upheld by the PMAAA and at present, the military academy marks its Foundation Day on Oct. 25 each year.

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A special feature of this year’s homecoming affair was the “Leadership Forum” sponsored by the Business, Industry Retired Cavaliers Inc. (BIRCI) chapter of the PMAAA. This chapter is headed by Cavaliers Manuel Espejo and Anselmo Avenido Jr.

Recently the chapter decided to set up a Senior Advisers Group (SAG) from among the retired officers with the objective of focusing attention on some of the issues confronting the academy in particular.

In the past, the academy also suffered from a “revolving door” policy as to the assignment of superintendents to Fort del Pilar. Some appointees served for as short a period as five months to a year. The SAG recommended through the PMAAA that a longer tour of duty be provided for officers assigned to this sensitive post. After all, the future of the AFP would depend to a large extent on the quality of officers produced at the PMA. The move was acted upon favorably by defense authorities.

To provide upperclass cadets with practical views on the challenges they face when they graduate, it was also decided to conduct a “leadership forum” with members of the SAG offering true-to-life experiences.

Former AFP chief of staff Gen. Alexander Yano spoke on the subject “Integrity in Public Service.” In his talk, General Yano quoted the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius from his book “Meditations”: If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.