AFP rejects calls to abolish PMA

MANILA, Philippines -  The military rejected yesterday calls to abolish the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), claiming that a majority of the institution’s graduates are serving the country with integrity despite allegations of corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said the academy should not be blamed for the alleged misdeeds former military chiefs are being accused of. 

“Such proposals (to abolish PMA) are unrealistic and untimely. The biggest majority of the graduates continue to stand by the values they have learned from the academy,” he said. Mabanta, a member of PMA Class 1981, said graduates who committed irregularities might have been influenced by external factors. “Coming from an ideal society in the PMA, some graduates may have succumbed to the influences of the outside world. But they are very few,” he said. “These (issues are due to) the graduates’ own individual lookout as they face realities of the outside world.”

Mabanta said the PMA provides training to future military leaders and abolishing it would have an impact on the military institution. “Probably what we can do is strengthen some of the systems in the academy. We can enhance its values formation program,” he said. 

Calls for the abolition of PMA surfaced amid allegations that military funds were diverted to allow former AFP chiefs to get hefty bonuses and gufts. 

Rep. Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna party-list group said the system being implemented at the PMA should be scrutinized. 

He said a review is necessary since PMA graduates are being tagged in corrupt practices. 

“There is something wrong with the values system, training as we see in the graduates that we have now,” Casiño said. 

He said the PMA spends more money for cadets than the country does for state scholars. The academy reportedly spends more than P2 million for every cadet. 

Surigao del Sur Rep. Philip Pichay proposed last November the abolition of the PMA and called for the division of the military institution into major command academies. 

In a Senate hearing last Jan. 27, retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa said former AFP chiefs received millions of pesos in pabaon or sendoff money upon retirement and pasalubong or welcome money for incoming chiefs of staff. 

The sendoff money reportedly came from the provisions for command directed activities (PCDA) fund, which was replenished monthly. 

Rabusa said the major services – Army, Air Force, and Navy – and various AFP offices were used as “clearinghouses” to allow top officers to get huge bonuses.