Duterte generals in Cabinet are awardees in 2021 PMA alumni homecoming

BAGUIO CITY –– The country’s defense chief and three Cabinet members at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are among this year’s cavalier awardees of the two-day Philippine Military Academy alumni homecoming, which began on Friday, Feb. 12.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior and Local Governments Secretary Eduardo Año, Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista, and Presidential Peace Adviser Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr., who heads the National Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, are at the top of the list for outstanding achievements in public administration, said Major Cheryl Tindog, PMA spokesperson.

All 21 cavaliers would receive their awards on Saturday, Feb. 13, in a program to be led by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta, one of the key speakers of the low-key 2021 reunion.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III was scheduled to speak at the alumni assembly on Friday, which has been kept private.

Lorenzana is the oldest retired general in President Duterte’s Cabinet and is a member of PMA Class of 1973. Galvez and Bautista graduated in 1985, while Año belongs to PMA Class of 1983.

Also in the list of awardees from the military and the police are Former Pangasinan lawmaker and currently Lingayen town Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil of PMA Class of 1976, and retired Army chief Jaime delos Santos, who served as PMA superintendent (Class 1969).

Only about a hundred graduates of the military school were allowed to travel to Baguio City, which is under a general community quarantine.

Other alumni members participated via video conferencing.

LZB