Ostracized PMA Cadet Treated like a Leper

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

It seems the fair haired boy for the directorship of the police regional office (PRO) in Region 1 is a certain Chief Superintendent Diosdado Valeroso. According to my source General Valeroso is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1982.

Another source Pangasinan’s media wonder boy Atong Remogat, who was the crooner at my birthday party, confirmed the rumors that a lobby for Valeroso for the top police post in the region is on the upswing. He said he met recently former PNP chief Art Lomibao and Valeroso at the Manaoag Shrine. Art asked Atong how can Valeroso meets Congresswoman Rosemarie “Baby”Arenas of the Pangasinan’s 3^rd Congressional District.

“Ako na ang bahala kay Congresswoman Gina (de Venecia), “ General Lomibao told Remogat.

“Ako na rin ang bahala sa inyo mga media pag naka-upo na si Valeroso, bata ako noon,” Atong boasted.

***

Earlier broadcaster Cisco Flores, a mason, told me that some quarters have been lobbying with the power-that-be for a last dash for General Wendy Rosario, Valeroso’s mistah at the PMA, for the directorship of the PNP in the Ilocos Region.

The chances of Rosario and his “mistah” General Ed Basbas for the directorship of the PRO-1 have been scuttled lately because of power plays among the gods in Imperial Manila.

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In a huddle at the Pangasinan police provincial office and at my birthday with some graduates of the Philippine Military Academy, they told me that civilians could hardly understand how the Honor Code is being implemented at the Philippine’s version of the U.S West Point and the British’s Sandhurst.

The discussion was on the brouhaha spawned by the dismissal of Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia who should be marching at the Long Gray Line in Fort del Pilar, Baguio City this month as the class salutatorian.

He was found unanimously lying by nine-member honor committee.

According to the PMA website, the honor code or honor system is a unique system which is administered by the cadets themselves. Through the Honor System, the cadet binds himself to the Code which states that: "We, the cadets, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us those who do so."

A cadet found guilty committing any one of these would be asked to resign.

The colonel told me that Cudia would be allowed to graduate to get his Bachelor of Science degree but he would not be given a commission as an ensign in the Navy or a 2^nd Lieutenant in the either the Army, Airforce, or Marines.

“Minsan makita mo lang iyong ka bunkmate mo wala na pati gamit niya sa kuwarto dahil pina uwi na ng honor committee,” a colonel told me.

Honor committee is composed of 25 cadets

“One representative from the first, second, third, and fourth classes in each of the eight companies. The first and second class representatives are the voting members, while the third class are the recorders. If an honor case is to be formalized, the Honor Court composed of eight voting members and two recorders conduct a formal hearing. A unanimous vote of "Guilty" is needed to convict a cadet of an honor violation. If found guilty, the cadet is asked to resign for the good of the service. The proceedings of an Honor Committee is a privilege communication and known only to the committee and the Superintendent,” the Academy’s website cites.

A Lt. Colonel told me that a recalcitrant cadet would be punished by ostracism. Ostracism, for the sake of tricycle drivers who read this column, is exclusion from a society or group.

“Pero meron doon ayaw umalis  dahil ten days na lang graduation na. Nasa Airforce na siya ngayon, “ a PMA class of 1992 told me.

The Lt. Colonel did not tell me however if that ostracized former PMA cadet pilots a plane or was condemned perpetually to catch all the planes that landed at the runway as punishment for violating the honor code and as a way for the cash strapped air force to save gas money.

The other colonel told me that an ostracized cadet is treated like a leper. He eats alone on a table at the mess hall, cadets avoid talking to him, his roommates deserted him, and heaps are thrown at his room. Even the much abused plebe (first year) would even throw some crumbs of foods from the table even if the one ostracized is an upperclassman; he was in short stripped off with all the dignity left with him at the Academy.
***
Another good reference on this hullabaloo at the PMA is my kasimanwa Lawyer Berteni  "Toto" Suansing's blog "PMA's Honor Code is Good; Case Procedure is not as Good"
 that can be accessed at http://totocausing.blogspot.com/2014/02/pmas-honor-code-is-good-case-procedure.html.
One of the excerpts of his article: 

"From what I learned so far from the postings of PMA alumni who reacted, what actually makes the Honor Code of the PMA distinct from all other codes of ethics is the obviously very high degree of its observance and implementation as shown by its history.

In journalism, the code is like a paper code that no one dares to implement it against violators.  By the lawyer's codes, no one among us has the heart to file a case of professional violations against our fellow lawyers and judges who are also lawyers unless the sin is of the extreme degree and we are personally affected by that sin.  In the doctors' case, no one among them has the readiness to testify or complain against fellow doctors"

(Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com)