BATCHMATES Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa and Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista watch the testimonial parade.
FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City, Philippines — In September 1983, then Third Class Cadet Oscar Albayalde and other cadets walked out of their classes to protest the inclusion of two of their “mistah” (schoolmates) in a hazing scandal that rocked the academy at that time.
Thirty six years later, Albayalde, now a general and head of the Philippine National Police, on Saturday recalled that incident, called “Walk In, Walk Out” staged by the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Sinagtala” Class of 1986, during a testimonial parade given by cadets now caught in a maelstrom following the hazing death of Cadet Darwin Dormitorio on Sept. 18.
In his address, Albayalde said the Sinagtala members were yearlings (cadets in their second year at the PMA) when the hazing scandal broke out.
He did not name the cadets who were victimized or who committed the maltreatment. But he said his mistah “urged the commandant of cadets to spare our classmates who were innocent.”
“We thought walking out meant the end of our careers as cadets [and future military officers],” he said.
But the class was simply made to “march under the heat of the sun,” which, Albayalde said, was a legitimate form of punishment for cadet infractions.
But it was different in the case of Dormitorio, who was severely beaten by upperclassmen, based on autopsy reports.