CEBU CITY?The popular TV soap ?Tayong Dalawa? has caused a dramatic spike in the number of applicants to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

Applicants who took the PMA nationwide entrance exams on Sunday increased from 8,400 last year to 15,000 this year, said Ensign Judyline Caneneo, spokesperson of the Naval Forces Central (Naforcen) based in Cebu and a member of PMA Class 2007.

?Tayong Dalawa,? an ABS-CBN teleserye, tells the story of twin brothers, played by Gerald Anderson and Jake Cuenca, who are both PMA graduates, and in love with the same woman, played by Kim Chiu. The TV soap, launched in January, is set to conclude in a few weeks.

Caneneo said PMA officials learned about the significance of the TV show when they recently conducted a nationwide survey among PMAers on how new graduates were performing in their areas of responsibility and how the TV series ?Tayong Dalawa? was affecting the public?s awareness of life in the academy.

?The show was a major factor in how the general public perceived the PMA,? Caneneo said.

?The 15,000 applicants is a significant increase?almost double. We attribute this to ?Tayong Dalawa? and to our alumni in the areas,? said the PMA commandant of cadets, Col. Nonato Alfredo Peralta.

Entrance exams

Peralta was in Cebu City to help facilitate the PMA entrance exams at Southwestern University (SWU), one of 30 testing centers nationwide.

He said the number of aspiring PMA cadets increased from last year?s 8,449 to this year?s 15,000 applicants, excluding walk-ins.

Cebu alone had 1,000 applicants. However, only 273 passed the initial screening and were allowed to take the exams. Most of those who did not qualify were overage or lacked the required documents.

Overage, just right

Wisley Rabaya, 22, was teary-eyed when he learned he would not be able to take the exams as he was overage. The eldest of seven children and a high school graduate of Pardo National High School, he had long dreamed of becoming an Army officer.

?I?ve been preparing for these exams for two years,? he said, adding that he would have passed the test had he been given a chance to take it.

Mary Jo Frances E. Fuentes, 17, on the other hand, was among the 59 women who passed the screening committee and took the exams on Sunday.

Fuentes, the second child of Charles and Alma Fuentes of Tubod, Lanao del Norte, came to Cebu to pursue a degree in dentistry at SWU.

When she heard about the PMA entrance exams, she decided to give it a try to fulfill one of her dreams which is to join the military.

?I don?t know how my parents will react when they find out that I had taken the exams,? she said.

Better quota

If there were more applicants, the PMA would have a bigger base from which to get quality cadets, Peralta said.

He said the PMA would be admitting 300-350 cadets for next schoolyear.

Last year, only 181 passed among 900 examinees, Peralta said.

The PMA entrance examinations (PMAEE) for the Visayas region were conducted in Tagbilaran City (Holy Name University), Dumaguete City (Silliman University), Bacolod City (West Negros College), Iloilo City (Iloilo City National High School), Tacloban City (Leyte Normal University) and in Catbalogan, Samar at Camp Lukban, headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division.

Requirements

The basic requirements for aspiring PMA cadets for schoolyear 2010 are: They should be natural-born Filipino citizens, of good moral character and must be physically fit. They should be single and have never sired a child (for men) nor given birth (for women). Men should be at least 5 feet 4 inches tall and women, at least 5 feet 2 inches in height.

They should be at least 17 years old but not a day older than 22 years old on April 1, 2010. They should be high school graduates with a general point average of 85 percent or higher and must be able to pass the Physical Fitness Test (PFT).

Cadets who pass the exams will compose PMA Class 2014 and will undergo a four-year education in academics, military, character, leadership, teamwork and skills training?for free.