FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City -- Some 377 cadets were tested during the reception rites on Saturday, June 1, at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
From the 28,000 aspirants who took the PMA examinations, it was down to 400 cadets who made it with 320 males and 80 females who will compose the PMA Class of 2023.
However, during the oath-taking and reception ceremony held at the Sundial Area and Borromeo Field, the number of cadets was down to 377 as some opted to back out.
The incoming cadets were received by the class of 2021 who will serve as their squad leaders and mentors during their cadet training.
For 45 minutes, the incoming cadets partake in several exercises that tested their physical and psychological abilities.
Lieutenant General Ronnie Evangelista, PMA Superintendent, led the oath-taking ceremony and congratulated the incoming cadets for successfully overcoming the examinations and selected among thousands of young Filipino aspirants.
He added the average survival rate of the cadets is 35 to 40 percent.
Evangelista added the reception rites on Saturday serve as transition from civilian life to the tough military life.
“We receive you not with warmth of hospitality, but with fiery welcome of eagerness. We receive you not with a cordial toast of laughter and conversation but with the billows of command and authority. You shall be received not with relaxing atmosphere of civility but the rigid bearing of alertness and promptness,” Evangelista said.
Upon admission to the Cadet Corps of Armed Forces of Philippines, one is able to avail free college education with a well-rounded curriculum and received monthly pay and allowances.