PMA’s pride: 2 cadets off to US Military Academy

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City — Two Mindanaoan cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) have bested their 313 mistahs for training in the US Military Academy in New York.

The two are Mario Mokhtarian Feliciano, an Iranian-Filipino from Zamboanga City, and Christy Isis Achanzar of Davao City. Both are 22-year-old.

It is the first time that the PMA is sending a female cadet to the US Military Academy.

Feliciano, second in rank in the PMA’s Maragtas Class of 2006, said the US military training is a dream come true for his father who lives and works in Kuwait.

"I think this is it," he said. "Now is the opportunity to do what my father once said to me."

He recalled asking his father how he could help the Philippines, and his father replied, "Why not study abroad and help the Filipinos after?"

Asked what three things he would bring with him to the US, Feliciano said a Bible, the Philippine flag and a watch with the PMA seal.

For her part, Achanzar, an electronics and communications engineering graduate of the University of Immaculate Conception in Davao City, said he will also bring the Philippine flag to serve as her inspiration.

"I will do my best to show to the world that Filipinos are great," she said.

Feliciano and Achanzar will be part of the 1,200 cadets of the USMA Class 2008.