FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City—The millennial cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) on Saturday received a letter from outgoing Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri on how peace building has enriched the military.
In lieu of a speech, Iriberri read the letter to the cadets and then handed it to the corps’ senior cadet during a testimonial parade given in honor of the chief of staff on Saturday, 48 days before his mandatory retirement on April 22 when he turns 56.
Letter writing is “the secret weapon” of cadets, who reread notes from girlfriends and parents because these are “lifelines and carriers of hope” to combat a stressful PMA life, said Iriberri, who earned the monicker “Superman” as he rose through the ranks.
A member of PMA “Matikas” Class of 1983, Iriberri said that writing a letter may seem odd to a generation of cadets that is more at home with texting their thoughts and discussing their passions on social media.
Completing career cycle
Iriberri told the cadets that writing the letter was his way of completing the cycle of his career as a soldier. He said military life helped him “fully appreciate the dividends of peace and of building consensus.”
He said the military of the 21st century is composed of “men and women in uniform [who] are not only warriors, but [are] also builders, peace makers, teachers, advocates and partners for progress [because]… we interact, we build relationships and we strengthen alliances.”
Iriberri said the AFP has been changed by events and by an evolving world society. “The country I pledged to serve [back in 1983] has now set new standards for peaceful change,” he said.
“If someone [in the past had] told me [that we would have the means of] instant connectivity, I would have said: ‘Wake up and get some strong coffee.’ But here we are… our way of life continues to change drastically,” Iriberri said in the letter.
‘Warfare has changed’
“You young cadets stay in touch not by encrypted messages but by shortened truncated text [messages] such as ‘Wer na u? Dito na me.’… as we watch developments unfold in literally an instant… I can only imagine technology of three decades from now,” he said.
But he said that he was certain that what he learned as a military leader would remain true in the future. “Interactions, engagements, alliances—regardless of media or mode—would still be about relationships,” he said.
Warfare, too, has changed, he said, without making any reference to conflicts like the Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea or the strife in Mindanao.
Cadets should prepare for both war and peace building, Iriberri said, adding that they should also aspire for the “unparalleled benefits of peace making.”
Maj. Gen. Donato San Juan, PMA superintendent, said before Iriberri earned the monicker “Superman of the AFP” because of his physical fitness regimen, he was nicknamed the “Flash” by his 11 siblings. San Juan said it was a reference to the 1950s comic strip character Flash Gordon.
Iriberri was also called “Aquaman” because he regularly swam in a bay in Surigao del Sur when he was growing up, San Juan said.