FILE PHOTO: Filipino Scout Rangers take part in a passing parade.
LIGAO CITY––Some 239 applicants joined the opening ceremony on Monday afternoon for the candidate soldier program of the military at Camp Elias Angeles in Pili town in Camarines Sur province.
Major General Alex Luna, commander of the Philippine Army’s 9th Infantry Division, welcomed the 212 men and 27 women who will be part of the soldier candidate course class 740-2022.
Fifty-five candidates came from Albay, 11 were from Camarines Norte, 74 from Camarines Sur, one was from Catanduanes, 14 came from Masbate, 13 from Sorsogon, and 32 from outside the Bicol region.
The recruits will undergo vigorous training for six months, which will focus on basic military training and infantry orientation courses.
“Do not squander the opportunity given to you. Persevere, and be serious with your training and help yourselves [turn] your dreams [into] reality,” Luna told the recruits.
Aside from the new candidates, 174 soldiers graduated on June 10. They would be deployed to different battalions to combat insurgency in Bicol, Major John Paul Belleza, 9ID public affairs office chief, told The Inquirer in a text message.