1,450 pass PMA entrance exams

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City  – Out of 12,195 applicants, only 1,450 or less than 10 percent passed this year’s entrance examination of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the country’s premier training institution for military officers.

Of the examinees, Army Maj. Lynnette Flores, PMA spokesperson, said 11,978 completed the exam but 1,450 – 952 males and 498 females – actually made it.

The successful examinees will now undergo the next phase of the selection process for PMA cadetship – the complete physical exam to be conducted at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center in Quezon City.

They will go through medical, psychological and physical tests to determine their fitness to undergo the four-year military training in the PMA.

After the series of tests, the PMA Cadet Procurement Board will deliberate and select the most qualified candidates to comprise PMA Class of 2018 who are expected to report to the PMA on April 1, 2014 for the oath-taking and reception rites, Flores said.

Herself a PMAyer, Flores said, “Being a PMA cadet gives an individual a noble privilege in serving the country.” 

Upon admission to the PMA cadet corps, one is able to avail himself or herself of free college education with a well-rounded curriculum and receive monthly pay and allowances, she added. 

After graduating from PMA, the cadets are guaranteed of a career as an officer in the Army, Navy or Air Force.

Meanwhile, more than 200 young Abrenios recently took the Philippine Army Aptitudes Test Battery (PAATB) at the Abra State Institute Science and Technology in Bangued.

The PAATB is the basic requirement in entering the Army, said Capt. Regie Go, spokesperson of the Abra-based 41st Infantry Battalion.