At 2025 PMA homecoming, colors were loud but politics muted
FORT DEL PILAR, BAGUIO CITY — Colors were aplenty but political discourse was muted at this year’s Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Alumni Homecoming here, where hundreds of retired and active military officers converged on Saturday.
The 126-year-old premiere military school discouraged all forms of campaigning now that the midterm election season has started.
Only a few graduates who are participating in the midterm polls turned up, among them Sen.Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa (a member of Sinagtala Class of 1986), who is currently seeking another term in office; senatorial candidate and retired marine colonel Ariel Querubin, of Matapat Class of 1979; and Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong (Sandigan Class of 1982), who is also gunning for reelection at the May polls.
Querubin represented the 12 PMA alumni who have been honored with the prestigious Medal of Valor. His campaign vehicle was parked near the Loakan Airport, instead of inside PMA along with the vehicles of active and retired soldiers who were driven in before 6 a.m.
Covering journalists were informed that they could not interview alumni members before and during the event, upon the instructions of the PMA Alumni Association Inc. (PMAAAI), which organizes the yearly reunions.
The PMA graduates were also instructed to avoid or shorten their interactions with the media while they were at the Borromeo Field, so as not to open any discussions about the elections, a PMA officer explained on condition of anonymity.
Except for class tarpaulins welcoming back the graduates, no campaign posters or streamers featuring alumni candidates were put up along Loakan Road that leads to Fort del Pilar.
PMA’s sons, daughters
About 1,711 PMA graduates from the oldest surviving batches to the most recent graduates of 2024 attended this year’s homecoming week which began on Thursday. The oldest alumni at the event was Cavalier Urso Bello of Class 1961, while the youngest was Cavalier Roland Bautista of PMA Bagong Sinag Class of 2024.
“It is essential for us to reflect on the true essence of this homecoming. This is more than just a reunion. It is a testament to the values which PMA instills in each graduate… [and] reaffirms our commitment to courage, integrity and loyalty,” said Vice Admiral Caesar Bernard Valencia, PMA superintendent.
“Let us not just recall the laughter and the camaraderies, but also remember the trials we faced…which built our character and had forged our resilience,” Valencia said.
PMA’s “sons and daughters” have been committed to the school’s mission of “cultivating leaders of character who are devoted to serving the people,” he added in his speech.
Guest of honor Alejandro Tengco, chair and CEO of the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corporation, also acknowledged PMA’s role in leadership training, when he announced PMA projects which his company intends to finance, including a warfare laboratory that would showcase new technologies to improve the Philippines’ self defense capabilities.
Glamour show
Like many previous reunions, the event was also a glamour show where each class dressed up to outshine their fellow graduates.
Querubin’s “mistahs” (classmates) from Class 1979 wore short-sleeved shirts and huge cowboy hats.
PMA “Makabayan” Class of 1975, this year’s host golden jubilarians, wore Barong Tagalogs and attention-grabbing yellow salakots.
Their counterparts from “Sanghaya” Class of 2000, this year’s silver jubilarians whom many street-side streamers refer to as the millennium bugs, wore silver suits with matching fedoras.
The spouses of Sanghaya wore green dresses that were partly hidden by silver green party jackets with butterfly sleeves. The diamond jubilarians of 2025 were members of PMA Class of 1965.
One of the standout attractions at the program was a cavalier awardee who received his citation with his wife and what appeared to be a newborn baby swaddled in a blanket.
