Gazmin: PMA graduates joining cleaner, reformed armed forces

AGUINALDO SABER. Cadet First Class Ernesto Bucalen Jr. of Tabuk City, Kalinga, receives the Aguinaldo Saber for academic excellence from Emiliana Suntay Tañedo, great granddaughter of the Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo on Saturday, eve of the PMA graduation in Baguio. EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NOTHERN LUZON

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City—The graduating Philippine Military Academy “Bagwis” Class of 2012 will be joining a “cleaner” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which has undergone reforms and modernization, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said here on Saturday.

“Our young officers are the fresh wellspring of new knowledge and high principles in public service. Your entry comes at an ideal time, as you are now entering the professional armed forces. Gone are the discarded malpractices of the past that had cast doubt on the professionalism of our armed forces,” Gazmin told the 187 members of the graduating class.

“Ours now is the true exercise of the genuine ideals of public service, good governance, transparency and accountability,” he said.

Later he told reporters: “I am saying that with full confidence because we have instituted several reforms and the reforms have been appreciated by all sectors, to include the cadets, and we make sure that the malpractices that have been committed before will not be committed again.”

Instead, he said, the Aquino administration has embarked on a military logistical upgrade to improve the skills, capacity and benefits of the soldiers.

In his speech before the cadets, Gazmin said: “Today we have a commander in chief who really cares for the needs of our soldiers, so that they can undertake the discharge of their constitutional duty.

“Realizing the needs of our soldiers into a high state of morale, we have implemented an amount of P260 per month as combat allowance for our soldiers who are engaged in combat duties. This is in addition to the P240 per month that they have been receiving as combat pay.”

He said the government had been building more than 10,000 houses for the families of soldiers in Central and southern Luzon. Similar housing facilities will be made available in the Visayas and Mindanao, he said.

“The implementation of our modernization program is currently in full swing. Notwithstanding the acquisition of military platforms and equipment, our defense department and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are working on the approval of contracts [for] the 138 modernization projects that will be implemented in the next five years,” he said.  Desiree Caluza and Lara Valenzuela, Inquirer Northern Luzon