A cadet's dream dashed to pieces

I received a shocking article from Honey Libao, my inaanak when she got married to young Makati Med doctor, Art Libao, whose social orientation is truly inspiring. During the past many years, Dr. Art Libao has been devoting much of his time to rehabilitation work for God's blessed children, those special tykes with mental impairment.

Initially, I had to merely pick up excerpts from Honey's letter. But when I realize the gravity of what she was saying, I decided to publish it in toto. Here is Honey's February 10 letter sent tome:

Yesterday, I found out from the news on TV that there was a hazing case in the Philippine Military Academy. We've been keeping this in our family for years now, but I think it's about time somebody said something abut it.

Sometime in 1984, my brother James went to Baguio to join the PMA. He was still in the "beast barracks" when we got a call from our brother-in-law, who was then based in Gintong Alay, that our brother was in the hospital. He didn't tell us why; we thought it was because of his asthma.

When my mom went there, she had the biggest shock of her life. My brother had all these tubes and had been hospitalized for quite sometime then. He was beaten up so badly, that some cadets had to donate blood for him to live.

The appalling fact was that the hospital record shows that he was unconscious only overnight. However, the patient beside him said that he was unconscious for at least a week. Also, the records said he received only a quart of blood; the other patients said that he had received much more than that.

My mother wanted to bring my brother to Makati Medical Center to have CT scanned and all those necessary tests. PMA didn't allow her to. They allowed her to bring him to V. Luna hospital where facilities aren't as good. PMA didn't allow this even if my mother had clearly explained that she would pay for all the expenses.

I remember visiting my brother in this pathetic hospital on my way home from UP where I was studying then. One couldn't help cursing PMA and whatever it stands for, for what they had done to my brother who had big dreams of being the first PMAyer in the family. He was hospitalized for a long time there, but we never knew what really happened to him; or the adverse effects of what had happened to him; his brain and body.

The first time my brother was brought home from hospital, he had to crawl from the living room to the bedroom upstairs. He didn't want to be helped; he didn't want to be pitied. Can you imagine a 5'10" guy crawling like a snake?

My mother wanted to file a case against PMA. The whole family was ready for that. Know what stopped us or who stopped us? James himself. He said if we would tell on the upper class, his batchmates would end up in deep trouble. In his effort to protect his batchmates and keep that code of honor, we ended up keeping the anger and frustration to ourselves.

In August of 1984, our family had the chance to go to LA to watch the Olympics. One of the main reasons was to bring James out of the country and have some rehabilitation somewhere else. For some reason, his departure was delayed. James and I were supposed to fly to LA together, but he was called back by PMA. He had to file a clearance of some sort. Well, he went there as he was told. And you know what happened? They called him to a room and beat him up again. Isn't that vicious? Up to this day, I couldn't see the rationale behind this. While I understand a bit why they do hazing when a cadet is in training but James was leaving them! Why did they have to beat him up again? Barbaric; evil; I don't know.

If James found out I wrote, I'm sure he wouldn't like the idea. But I couldn't help reliving these moments when I saw Vonn on TV last night. My brother looked exactly like him when he was hospitalized-- crewcut hair, spaced-out look, helpless, pathetic.

Something should be done about this evil system. Someone should draw a clear line and tell those PMAyers when and where to stop. For them, James is just another plebe. For us, he is a brother whose body and spirit had been crushed by some useless "tradition".

While it is true that there have been hundreds of perfect gentlemen who have graduated from PMA, it can never compensate for lives lost and destroyed from hazing. I hope that the people in authority put a stop to this.

My two sisters, Faye and Linda, both American citizens who have not been back in the Philippines for scores of years, recently took a Philippine Airlines flight to Manila, not knowing the changes that had taken place since they left their place of birth decades ago. With Faye's husband Randy Schupann and Linda's hubby Al Belle, they were all surprised to see the dramatic change of face of Metro Manila. And they were also pleasantly jolted by the beauty of Cebu, City, where they stayed for two days.

Linda and Al Belle, though, were dismayed when they found out that their hotel drivers did not know where the National Museum was. And when they got there, they were surprised that such a historic place was not at all crowded. "Filipino should pay a visit to that museum. It is worth it," said Linda and Al.

The visitors, together with another traveling kin Edwin Avila, had a grand time as they feasted, during the past ten days, on sumptuous and delicious food cooked the Filipino way. And they marveled at the elegance of the hotels in Metro Manila, and Cebu's Waterfront, plus the hospitality showered on them by airline and hotel personnel and other Filipinos from all walks of life.

As Linda and Faye and their husbands wing their way back home, they have vowed to return to the Philippines, and savor anew the wonderful experience they had during the two-week-long stay here. "We are going to spend our dollars here, and probably even plan to retire in Tagaytay City," they said.

PULSE BEAT: One senator reportedly made a "killing" from the trading of BW shares in the Philippines Stock Exchange. Lucky guy, for getting advance info from BW insiders .... Bonzers Limited is sponsoring a forum on Branch Banking Services on February 16-18 at the Manila Galleria Suites at Ortigas Center. The forum will focus on support services vital to branch banking. For info on this forum, contact tel. nos. 892-2561 and 759-2170.

Art A Borjal's e-mail address: