Another hazing case rocks PMA
BAGUIO CITY—A freshman cadet of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) was physically “harmed” inside their barracks last year, but all his assailants have already been “punished” by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the premiere military school revealed on Monday.
The incident, while it happened in September 2024, only came to light recently when the victim, who after months of treatment was only discharged from hospital in June, filed a police complaint against those involved in the hazing incident, prompting both the PMA and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to acknowledge that it happened.
Following a “thorough and impartial investigation,” PMA officials have determined that a plebe, or fourth-class cadet, was hurt by a classmate for most of the whole month of September 2024, according to Navy Lt. Jesse Nestor Saludo, chief of the PMA public information office.
Saludo told the Inquirer on Tuesday that the cadets involved in the incident have been “sanctioned” under AFP and CCAFP (Cadet Corps Armed Forces of the Philippines) regulations.” The PMA, however, did not provide details nor the gravity of the assault.
The cadet’s plight first came to light on July 3 when the individual filed a blotter report regarding hazing and other types of abuses that were allegedly inflicted from Sept. 2, 2024 to Sept. 29, 2024 at the PMA.
The report was first broadcast by Baguio’s Catholic radio station dzWT. The Inquirer was informed that the blotter report was a preliminary documentation of the “hazing” incidents in preparation for a formal criminal complaint to be filed by the cadet.
The AFP, on Tuesday, also affirmed that two out of the four cadets in the alleged “hazing” incident were suspended for “physical harm.”
“One was acquitted. Two were suspended. (One) underwent a punishment based on his participation being part of a chain of command,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said at a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.
Punching
According to a report from the Baguio City police, the suspects allegedly forced the victim to repeatedly perform strenuous exercises until he collapsed.
“Ngayon lang siya lumabas (It came out now) because of certain circumstances that occurred in the life of the cadet involved. But since 2024, since the incident occurred, the PMA has already acted on it,” Padilla said.
In the report, the victim had accused four cadets of committing a series of harassments that included extreme physical activities and punching, among them two of his fellow plebes, a second-class cadet who was completing his third year of training, and a first-class cadet, or senior cadet, who would be eligible for graduation in 2026.
The identities of the victim and the alleged perpetrators were revealed in the report, but the Inquirer withheld their names pending additional verification.
According to the report, the victim was hospitalized on Sept. 29, 2024, initially at V. Luna Medical Center in Quezon City, and then at the PMA’s Fort del Pilar Station Hospital in Baguio City after absorbing a serious punch. The cadet was discharged only on June 30 this year. It was not clear what medical treatment required the cadet’s prolonged confinement.
Saludo said the cadet’s classmates have been suspended.
“The squad leader, by virtue of command responsibility, was given the maximum demerits, confinement days, and punishment hours for failure to maintain good order and discipline in the squad,” he explained.
Saludo said the PMA could not yet confirm nor respond to details incorporated in the police blotter report, saying the school has yet to receive formal notice or a formal complaint at press time.
On leave
In his earlier statement, Saludo said the complainant “is currently on indefinite leave while awaiting discharge orders based on AFP Medical Board findings unrelated to the injuries [the cadet] sustained.” He did not elaborate.
The PMA “does not condone maltreatment” and has “implemented comprehensive reforms in training systems, policies, supervision, and monitoring mechanisms to prevent [abuses] and to foster a culture of respect, discipline, and professionalism among our cadets,” Saludo said.
This latest incident of abuses inside the academy occurred a month after Baguio Regional Trial Court Judge Maria Ligaya Itliong-Rivera of Branch 5 convicted former Cadets Third Class Shalimar Imperial Jr. and Felix Lumbag Jr. of murder in relation to the controversial 2019 hazing death of Cadet Fourth Class Darwin Dormitorio.
Dormitorio, who would have graduated as a member of PMA’s “Madasigon” Class of 2023, was found unconscious at the barracks and died while undergoing treatment at the PMA hospital. Forensic examiners discovered he had suffered internal injuries in the course of weeks of maltreatment and even torture from a taser device.
Alongside another former third-class cadet, Julius Carlo Tadena, Imperial and Lumbag were also found guilty of violating Republic Act No. 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018. All three were handed life sentences.
At the height of the Dormitorio controversy, the PMA instituted a system to regulate all interactions between freshmen cadets, their military tactical officer, and the senior cadets when the AFP deployed a troubleshooting team there in 2019, among them AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner (a member of the PMA “Makatao” Class of 1989), who assumed the post of commandant of cadets. —WITH A REPORT FROM GABRYELLE DUMALAG
