Philippine Military Academy

The Philippine Military Academy (PMA; Filipino: Akademiyang Militar ng Pilipinas; Spanish: Academia Militar de Filipinas) is the Philippine military school of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.[1] It was established on December 21, 1936 by the virtue of Commonwealth Act № 1 or the National Defense Act, fashioned after the United States Military Academy.[2] The Academy is located in the city of Baguio.[3] It is the training school for future officers of the AFP.[4][5]

Philippine Military Academy
Akademiyang Militar ng Pilipinas
Latin: Philippine Academiae Militaris
Former names
Academia Militar de Malolos (1898-1905)
Officer's School, Philippine Constabulary (1905–1926)
Philippine Constabulary Academy (1926–1935)
MottoCourage, Integrity, Loyalty
TypeService academy
EstablishedOctober 25, 1898
SuperintendentVAdm. Allan Ferdinand V. Cusi, PN
Commandant of CadetsBGen. Romeo Brawner, Jr.
Address
Fort General Gregorio del Pilar
,
Baguio
,
Philippines
CampusFort del Pilar (373 hectares)
Alma Mater song"PMA Alma Mater Song"
Colours              
NicknamePMA Cavaliers-"Bok" or "Mistah"
AffiliationsNDCP, AFP
Websitewww.pma.ph

History

An Officer's School of the Philippine Constabulary was established on February 17, 1905 within the walls of Intramuros in Manila.[6] This school was later relocated to Baguio on September 1, 1908, at Camp Henry Allen where it would stay for many years to come.

On a Monday, October 23, 1916, immediately after assuming his position as senator representing Mindanao and Sulu, Senator Hadji Butu Abdul Baqui sponsored his first bill, Senate Bill No. 9 creating a law establishing a military academy and requiring military education in colleges and universities. On the same day, he also sponsored Senate Bill No. 10 creating a law to establish a naval academy. (From Senate Diaries of the 4th Philippine Legislature, Volume 1, page 32, October 1916, original copy (in Spanish) at Adams Building, U.S. Library of Congress, from research work of Dr. Abraham T. Rasul, Jr., Washington DC). A few months later, on February 9, 1917, US President Woodrow Wilson, in an article written in the Buffalo Enquirer mentioned "military or naval training will be a good thing for the young men of the country" and congratulated Senator Hadji Butu "for being the first among those in the upper house to introduce the measures for their establishment".

After the Philippine Legislature passed Act No. 3496 on September 8, 1926, the school was renamed the Philippine Constabulary Academy and courses were lengthened from nine months to three years. Just as the PC started with American and Filipino officers, the school had American and Filipino officer cadets in its student body.

When the National Defense Act was approved on December 21, 1935, the Philippine Constabulary Academy was renamed Philippine Military Academy and was permitted to grant its graduates Bachelor of Science degrees after completion of their four-year curriculum.[7] PMA was modeled after the United States Military Academy with officers from the Philippine Scouts and regular United States Army as instructors and members of the general staff.[8][9] PMA Class of 1940, with 79 graduates, was the pioneer batch to complete four years of training. Quirico Evangelista and Reynaldo Mendoza of Class '40 composed the PMA alma mater song, "PMA, Oh Hail to Thee."

Facade of Melchor Hall, PMA

With the outbreak of the Second World War, training was disrupted at the PMA with Classes 1942 and 1943 being graduated prematurely and assigned to combat units in Bataan and other parts of the country. Many of these young officers perished in the war.

After the War, the Academy was reopened on May 5, 1947, at Camp Henry T. Allen in Baguio. But due to its increasing need for larger grounds, it was soon moved to its present location at Fort General Gregorio H. del Pilar, Loakan, some ten kilometers from downtown Baguio. The main building, Melchor Hall, was completed in 1949 under the supervision of military engineer Lt. Pacifico C. Cabrera, a decorated WWII hero, who later as a full colonel, became Chief of Engineers of the AFP. During the 1960s, as a need for more well-rounded individuals was found to be desirable, and socio-humanistic courses were added to the school's curriculum.

1993 proved a momentous year for the PMA as its first female cadets were admitted and specialization based on branch-of-service was introduced into the curriculum. The first female cadets graduated from the Academy in 1997.

In 1998, a proclamation by the President of the Philippines, while acknowledging the academy's traditional roots lay with the 1905 founding of the Philippine Constabulary school, changed the official celebration day of the academy to October 25, in honour of the Academia Militar which was established on October 25, 1898 in Malolos, Bulacan.[6] Other sources have since acknowledged this change.[10][11] The Academia Militar was opened during the establishment of the insurgent First Philippine Republic. It was closed on January 20, 1899, before the Philippine–American War and thus was the first ever all-Filipino military academy to be established.[12]

Controversies

Death of Darwin Dormitorio
Main article: Death of Darwin Dormitorio

A 20-year-old Cadet 4th class Darwin Dormitorio died as a result of hazing inside the campus at the hands of his fellow cadets. Following the incident, the police have named seven persons of interest for his death.[13]

Hazing videos

On October 23, 2019, two videos, dated 2017 and 2018, of torture by the cadets were uploaded on social media. The 2018 video shows a cadet being punched and kicked by a fellow cadet. Another cadet wearing earphones is seen in the background of the video. In the video, two cadets were doing squats; when one of them collapses, he is kicked as punishment by an upperclassman. The attack stops when someone opens the door to inspect the room. The 2017 video shows four upperclassmen with two plebes. An upperclassman is seen using his helmet to repeatedly hit one of the plebe's hands and the other's back. While the upperclassman attacks the plebes, the other cadets in the background were seen watching and laughing, actively bystanding and allowing the torture to continue.[14][15][16]

Of the six upper-class cadets seen attacking the plebes in the video, five were transferred to the PMA holding center while the academy investigated the incident; on the other hand, the sixth cadet was discharged from the academy due to an "Honor Code" violation.[14][15]

  • Detail of parapet of Melchor Hall, PMA
  • Graduating PMA cadets at the PMA Alumni Homecoming, 2012
  • Barong dagger of Mujib Susukan, part of war booty displayed at the Philippine Military Academy Museum
  • Flowers on the grounds of the PMA campus
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See also

References
  1. "Over 11,000 men, women apply for PMA exam - ZamboTimes". Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. "Commonwealth Act No. 1 : PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES and CODES : CHAN ROBLES VIRTUAL LAW LIBRARY". Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  3. About the Philippine Military Academy
  4. Armed Forces of the Philippines
  5. "The Manila Times Online - Trusted Since 1898". Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. "Proclamation No. 35, s. 1998". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines.
  7. "Commonwealth Act No. 1 : The National Defense Act". Chan Robles Law Library. December 21, 1935.
  8. Jose, Ricardo Trota (1992). The Philippine Army, 1935–1942. Ateneo de Manila University Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-971-550-081-4. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  9. McCoy, Alfred W. (1999). Closer Than Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy. Yale University Press. p. 31. ISBN 9780300077650. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  10. "About the Academy". Official website of the Philippine Military Academy.
  11. "Philippine Military Academy 115th Anniversary". Tempo.
  12. "Today in Philippine History, October 25, 1898, the Academia Militar was established in Malolos, Bulacan by General Emilio Aguinaldo". kahimyang.com.
  13. "7th suspect in PMA cadet's slay identified". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  14. "Saksi: 5 kadete na sangkot sa na-videohang pananakit ng ilang plebo ng PMA, under strict confinement". GMA News on YouTube.
  15. "WATCH: Hazing inside the PMA barracks". Rappler. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  16. "1 PMA cadet discharged, 5 others detained over newly-surfaced hazing video". CNN Philippines.

Senate Diaries, 4th Philippine Legislature,Volume 1, page 32, October 23, 1916 (original in Spanish) Original copy located in Adams Building, US Library of Congress

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