EDITORIAL - Honor in the PMA

Thanks to the controversy over the dismissal of a cadet for lying about the reason for being late in class, the nation is now aware of a stringent honor code in the Philippine Military Academy. According to the PMA, this code declares: “We, the cadets, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us those who do so.”

The PMA states that the spirit of this code is embodied in two questions: “Do I intend to deceive? Do I intend to take undue advantage?” No one is immune from the honor system, which supposedly transcends rank and class. The PMA warns: “No cadet who violates the code can redeem himself…”

 With the honor system in mind, President Aquino, the commander-in-chief, went along with the decision of the PMA administration and made no move to allow Cadet 1st Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia to join the commencement exercises of the PMA’s Siklab Diwa Class of 2014.

The commander-in-chief also had a relevant message to the new officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines: they should apply the honor code beyond the PMA. After all the scandals involving PMA graduates, the public can only wholeheartedly agree. If the AFP applied the honor code to its officer corps as stringently as it is done in the PMA, the military – plus the current hierarchy of the Philippine National Police consisting mainly of PMA alumni – could be cleaned up.

The PMA honor code was surely forgotten in the case of retired Army Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, and all the former AFP chiefs implicated in fund anomalies by a military finance officer. The honor code was also forgotten by the PMA alumni who now face large-scale corruption charges for various procurement anomalies in the PNP. There must be a lot of lucrative opportunities in the PNP, whose first chief, a PMA graduate, was charged with corruption; PMA alumni are now moving heaven and earth to continue controlling the civilian police force.

Integrity is inculcated early. In the case of the AFP, it should be ingrained in the training of its officer corps. PMA cadets cannot be reminded often enough about their honor code. But there must be even more reminders after they join the AFP.