In PMA rites, martial law not too distant

One of the newest cadets of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 2021 retrieves a cap during incorporation rites on May 28. —EV ESPIRITU

FORT DEL PILAR—George Lorenton, a food vendor, left Sultan Kudarat, a province in Mindanao, which is under martial law, to witness his son, Kenneth Jones, become part of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadet corps during incorporation rites here on Sunday.

He was joined by Brig. Gen. Laur Cris Tumanda, who motored to Baguio City to watch his son, C/4C Laur Cris II, march alongside fellow members of PMA Class of 2021. The Tumanda family is also from Mindanao.

Lorenton said he had reservations about his son’s new career as a soldier. His family lives in an area where sporadic fighting occurs near heavily populated communities.

But he said it was a choice that his son had made, much like the rest of the 285-member Class of 2021.

The newest PMA class was welcomed by Lt. Gen. Salvador Melchor Mison Jr., Armed Forces vice chief of staff.

Mison did not discuss the Marawi City attacks that led to the declaration of martial law in Mindanao on May 23, or the recent Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

But he said: “The vow you made [as cadets] is the same vow we made [when we were cadets]. The mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is embodied in the Constitution. Remain true to your mission. It is the same—protect the people, assert our sovereignty and defend the territory.”

“Life is hard and joining PMA is a way out of poverty. [My son] struggled through the PMA entrance examination and was lucky to pass,” Lorenton said. “I also applied to become a soldier in 1998 but I was not taken in.”

He said his family learned to accept the worst of conflict-torn Mindanao while living in Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat.

“Sometimes, there are skirmishes. Sometimes, it’s peaceful. Occasionally, we would have to move from one place to another [to avoid the conflicts],” he said.

“Sometimes, Christians like us are caught in the crossfire. Fighting sometimes crosses into our areas but we never really know with whom the military is battling. Only the military knows,” he said.

Tumanda, commander of the Philippine Air Force 710 Special Operations Wing, declined to comment on the ongoing conflict in Mindanao.

But he said he was proud to have two sons in PMA. His other son, C/3C Alfonse, is a member of PMA Class of 2020.

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