Early Halloween at PMA after recognizing new batch of cadets

CADETS showed up in Masskara gear at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) yesterday. In an early Halloween treat for its employees and visitors, PMA staged a costume parade which coincided with the academy’s 117th foundation anniversary. PHOTOS BY EV ESPIRITU/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City—Sunday visitors at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) were not only treated to the synchronized march of its cadets. They also gushed over Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza and her three “lolas” (grandmothers), a black Spiderman, a fire-eater, and a “Heneral [Antonio] Luna” with a crooked mustache.

These were PMA cadets and their military instructors, who marched out wearing painted faces and outlandish costumes for an early Halloween treat.

Maj. Gen. Oscar Lopez, PMA superintendent, turned up at Borromeo Field on a horse, playing the role of Luna, as he was depicted in a recent film. “I idolize Luna,” he said as he tried to straighten his fake mustache.

Lopez was flanked by PMA teachers who were dressed up as regimented Katipuneros. One of the teachers,

Maj. Agnes Lynette Flores, was decked out to simulate a vampire.

Three soldiers put on wigs and bad makeup to play the grandmothers who pester Yaya Dub in the noontime show “Eat Bulaga’s” popular skit segments.

The cadets had their roles to play, too. One set of cadets performed a Sinulog street dance. Another group danced on street, made up like mardi gras clowns.

Flores said the cadets decided to showcase the country’s various festivals: the Sinulog of Cebu, Ati-Atihan of Iloilo, Masskara of Bacolod, and Panagbenga of Baguio.

The cadets wore T-shirts featuring the phrase: “Pinag-isang kultura, pinagyaman ng akademiya #pyesta sa PMA (A unified culture enriched by PMA, hashtag PMA feast).”

MAJ. GEN. OSCAR Lopez, superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy, dressed as Heneral Luna, rode on a horse at Borromeo Field on Sunday.

The pre-Halloween treat set a cheerful mood for visiting tourists and the cadets’ parents following the devastation left by Typhoon “Lando” last week.

It also coincided with the PMA’s foundation day celebration. It was on Oct. 25, 1898, when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo established a military school that became the PMA.

“It was Luna who convinced Aguinaldo to open a military school,” Lopez said.

The performances also delighted the parents of the academy’s newest cadets who stayed for the show.

On Saturday, the PMA formally recognized 341 members of the “Mabalasik (Ang Mandirigma ng Bayan, Lakas at Sarili Iaalay Para sa Kapayapaan)” Class of 2019. The class, which includes 92 female cadets, also joined the festivities.