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Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Nabong first PMA female cadet casualty
By Harley F. Palangchao
FORT DEL PILAR -- The drowning of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) 4th Class Cadet Mary Rose Nabong of Catbalogan Samar at the PMA pool marked a record in the 104-year history of the country's premier military institution.
Nabong, 21, was the first female cadet to die inside the PMA since the academy and the PNP Academy opened their doors to women in 1993, when then president Corazon Aquino signed Republic Act 7192 or the Women Development in Nation Building.
Nabong drowned one month ahead of her birthday, October 31, while her parents were on their way back to the province after witnessing her being recognized last September 6, along with 317 other plebes, as part of PMA class 2007.
Her death came almost two years after 2nd Lt. Jessica Chavez of Sta. Lucia, Ilocos Sur, "mysteriously died" inside a military camp sometime in February 2001. Chavez was the first PMA female graduate to die violently.
Marine Maj. Edgard Arevalo, PMA spokesman, told reporters in a press conference that the academy is ruling out the angle of foul play in the death of Nabong.
Arevalo said the initial autopsy report showed that Nabong's lungs were drenched and had bubbles, an indication that the cadet drowned.
He also assured that the academy would fully cooperate with the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO), which is conducting a separate investigation on the matter.
PMA, in its earlier press release, claimed that Nabong and 34 other cadets were having a swimming practice but she was not immediately noticed missing, since her companions left the pool individually and not as a group.
Nabong was found missing during a head count of the Foxtrot Company, where she was said to be in the first squad of the first platoon of the 3rd Battalion, minutes after the cadets were told to return to their respective barracks.
Initial investigation of the BCPO Station 4 disclosed that the victim "accidentally drowned while they were reportedly having their intramurals practice".
"According to witnesses, it was customary for everybody to stop whatever they were doing and stand still, when the siren blares within PMA during flag retreat every 5 p.m.," Gines said in the dialect earlier.
Gines said that right after the flag retreat, they all automatically joined a mess formation and it was only when they were undergoing a head count that Nabong was noticed to be missing.
"Since the water in the pool was not very clear at that late hour, they did not notice her in the pool right away because she was in the portion that was about 12 feet deep and she was not seen floating on the surface," Gines said.
Nabong's cadaver was brought to the La Paz Funeraria for autopsy before she was brought back to the St. Ignacia Chapel for funeral services.
Arevalo said Nabong's parents are on their way back to Baguio.
Meanwhile, a PMA military officer said, "Nabong was a great loss on the part of academy, especially to the roster of around 70 female cadets."
She added that female cadets have already proven their worth and that they are already on equal footing with the male cadets after the first batch of female cadets graduated in 1997.
The first batch of seven female cadets to graduate in the male-dominated academy included Captains Arlene Orejana-Trillanes, wife of Lt. Sg. Antonio Trillanes IV, and Marissa Andres. The two have been teaching in the PMA for the past three years and are members of the AFP Corps of Professors.
In 1999, Arlene De La Cruz, who is now an ensign in the Philippine Navy, took center stage as the first-ever female cadet to graduate as valedictorian.
Her feat was repeated when Tara Jaime Velasco of Tarlac province also came out on top of her class and was accorded honors during PMA's 2003 graduation rites last March.
PMA records showed that at least 65 female cadets graduated in the academy and are now holding high positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
(September 10, 2003 issue)
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