THE Philippine Military Academy (PMA) has an upgraded curriculum for the incoming cadets come June 1 when classes start.
Every cadet now will major in national security management, in response to the growing threats to national security.
Brig. Gen. Cheston Valencerina, head of academics, said this will cover the security landscape on the regional, national and even international levels. There is economic, political and environmental security among other aspects, taken from a military standpoint.
The state of economy of an area has an impact on security. For one, the less economic opportunities a place has, the more vulnerable it may be to disruption of peace and order and terrorism. The kind of economy running in a place will also be part of a mapping study.
Mindanao is a case cited as with less investments, the region can be more in danger of security threats, and with violence escalating, this in turn will discourage investors.
On the political aspect, Valencerina said part of it is establishing rapport with the local government units for cooperation.
It has also been observed that more military personalities are turning to politics. PMA Superintendent Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista said that for military officers who have been in active service for some 34 years, politics can be another calling to continue serving the people.
“Why not? After all, it’s still a noble profession,” he said.
Valencerina said environmental security must also be studied well. He said as detachments are assigned in different areas, aspects like vegetation and mapping of threats are important.
While these are part of the military science in the curriculum, the new security-management course will enhance such aspects in view of present-day terrorist threats not only on the national level, but also internationally.
Evangelista also welcomed the renewed inclusion of the ROTC in mainstream education.
“This is good. Our incoming leaders need to have patriotism and nationalism. ROTC will catalyze this and ingrain discipline. For the youth, ROTC will be love of country put into action,” he said.
Despite all the focus on preparing for threats to national security, Evangelista sounded the call against war, stressing the country cannot afford another Marawi seige of sorts.
“We spent billions neutralizing [the enemy] and [are] still spending billions to rehabilitate,” he said, but rationalized that the military could not do otherwise as the ISIS had to be neutralized. “For the sake of the next generation, let’s put an end to this. The Army is making changes to succeed in future endeavors.”
Evangelista also disclosed that close to 20 percent now of the cadet population are females, proving their worth as well as their male counterparts.
The process of determining the number of females coming is more tedious, Evangelista said.
Of the incoming 400 that can be admitted in the coming school year, there will be 80 females, so it is more competitive. In fact, of the 20 percent belonging to the original 2019 graduating class of 349 admissions, 42 were consistent salutatorians and valedictorians in schools where they came from, said BGen. Bartolome Bacarro, commandant of cadets.
The graduating Mabalasik 2019 class is 263 strong, but 223 originally belong to the batch. The rest are turnbacks completing the course.
Mabalasik, which stands for Mandirigma ng Bayan Lakas at Sarili Iaalay para sa Kapayapaan, is topped by 21-year-old Cdt. 1Cl Dionne Mae Apolog Umalla from Alilem, Ilocos Sur. She is the fifth female top graduate since women were first admitted to the academy in 1993. The top 10 students in the class have an equal number of five females and five males. Of the graduates, 134 will be joining the Army, 63 will go to the Air Force and 66 will join the Navy.
Evangelista said the rate of survival this year is higher at 50 percent compared to an average 35-percent retention of admissions. It’s a very intensive challenge, several graduating cadets acknowledged.
Bacarro said the main reasons for not making it at the PMA is failure to comply with regulations, followed by violation of the honor code and academics.