Cadets’ splashes, mother’s tears at PMA graduation
FORT DEL PILAR, BAGUIO CITY—The graduation ceremony of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Siklab Laya” Class of 2025 was generally solemn—but it still kept the tradition of closing the program with some acts of mischief.
As part of a symbolic passing of the torch, junior cadets took turns carrying the 266 newly commissioned military officers one by one on their backs, only to toss them into a pool next to the PMA Sundial.
As their children got soaked, the proud parents in attendance also had water flowing—as tears in their eyes.
Especially in the case of this year’s valedictorian, Jessie Ticar Jr., who is also only the fourth PMA summa cum laude in over a century.
‘Distance not a hindrance’
Graduation meant Ticar, who will join the Army as a second lieutenant, would be coming home soon to his family after four years of training at the country’s premiere military school.
“Distance has never been a hindrance for loving families,” Ticar said in his valedictory speech.
His father, former taxi driver Jesse Sr., suffered a massive stroke recently and had yet to fully recover.
Anita, his mother, is a vendor selling pencils, ballpens and other small items in the streets of Batasan Hills, Quezon City.
Ticar—the youngest of three siblings—often sent her a portion of his monthly allowances just to augment her income, with the consent of PMA administrators.
Anita came for her son’s graduation on Saturday, his special achievement allowing her to have a short chat with President Marcos at the academy’s Borromeo Grandstand.
She admitted to journalists covering the event here that, after all these years, Ticar’s success at the PMA still caught her by surprise.
“I am so thankful for this occasion, for what my son has achieved. I never expected the sheer will power that he had shown to finish as the top cadet,” Anita said.
She said she never expected her son to pursue a military career at all. Ticar was already enrolled in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines when he passed the PMA entrance examination.
“I thank God for guiding my son toward this achievement … This is what he wants to do, so I stood by his decision and supported him,” Anita said.
Second chance
Ticar’s story, that of humble beginnings, is quite common among PMA cadets and the academy’s 12,300 alumni.
As Vice Adm. Caesar Bernard Valencia, the PMA superintendent, put it, the military school had always offered many youths “a second chance.”
The fifth-highest finisher in the class, Jetron Giorgio Nazareno, was raised by widower who earned a living at a vulcanizing shop, Valencia noted.
But one of the graduates who got the biggest applause was Eros Archimedes Osias, the class “goat”—who was cheered just for meeting all the challenges to complete the rigorous PMA course.
