PHILIPPINE Military Academy officials are puzzled by the leakage of this year’s top graduating class of Alagad ng Lahing Binigkis ng Tapang at Lakas (Alab Tala) 2018.
A national radio station, in a report from Iloilo, said it had interviewed the sibling of supposed topnotcher Cadet 1st Class Jaywardene Hontoria.
PMA public information officer Lieutenant Colonel Rey Balido said the official announcement of the Top 10 graduating cadets is scheduled for Wednesday, March 14, and any other announcements prior to the schedule will not be acknowledged by the academy.
Academy officials are now verifying the source of the announcement to make the necessary action if warranted.
Balido, however, reiterated they were not yet in a position to say whether there was a violation of the academy’s Honor Code.
"For the moment, we still are not in a position to say if there was a violation. We still need to know who and where the source of the information came from before any suitable action maybe done," Balido said.
Development of character is one of the crucial aspects in the training of a cadet in the country’s premier military institution.
"It is a fundamental objective which the Philippine Military Academy strives to achieve through the Honor Code and the Honor System. This system is a unique system which is administered by the cadets themselves," Balido explained.
The Honor System which binds the cadet to the code states, "We the cadets, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us who do so," Balido added.