SABER President Duterte hands the presidential saber to newly-commissioned Navy Ensign Krystlenn Ivany Quemedo, the top cadet of Philippine Military Academy Bagsik Diwa Class of 2022, during the first in-person commencement exercise at the academy on Sunday since 2020. EV ESPIRITU
BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The valedictorian of the 214-strong Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Bagsik Diwa” Class of 2022 has set a record as the first child of an alumnus of the country’s premier military school to graduate at the top of her class.
Newly commissioned Navy Ensign Krystlenn Ivany Quemado, Bagsik Diwa’s valedictorian, said she was “the first child of a cavalier to graduate No. 1, [who was] not standing behind his shadow but following his light to a path of noble service,” in a valedictory address at PMA’s graduation ceremony on Sunday, its first in-person commencement exercise since the coronavirus pandemic broke out in 2020.
Her father, Army Col. Nicolas Quemado Jr., beaming with pride, told the Inquirer before the graduation started, he reminded his daughter to stand proud and never forget that distinction “that no PMA-yer so far has children who graduated at the top of their class.”
But the older Quemado said he was not surprised that she ranked first because “I knew her capabilities.”
Quemado Jr., a member of PMA “Maalab” Class of 1993, hailed from Koranadal City, the capital of South Cotabato province. He traveled to Baguio to attend his daughter’s graduation along with his wife, Loveleih, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Notre Dame of Marbel University; and 17-year-old son, Kyle.
Ensign Quemado received the presidential saber from President Rodrigo Duterte, who was on his last official visit to PMA as the Armed Forces commander in chief before he steps down in June.
The program’s most celebrated cadet was class “goat” Romulo Dawilan III of Mountain Province who took a bow. Class goats are the cadets at the bottom of the list who are honored for their perseverance.
Other side
Ensign Quemado said “empathy” for the “plight of lowly soldiers who gave up simple comforts in life” to serve the country led her to a military career, after a visit to a camp in Mindanao as a young girl where her father was assigned.
“Many people think that I grew up in a sheltered, privileged life as a military officer’s daughter. While I recognize my own privileges, people do not see the other side of the coin,” she said.
“The longer I spent my days inside the walls of the academy, the more vivid the picture of the camp I visited in Mindanao became. The growing consciousness in me made me all the more determined to finish my studies,” she added.
—REPORTS FROM VINCENT CABREZA AND EV ESPIRITU
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