Bontoc native appointed PMA officer-in-charge

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City — Brig. Gen. Romel Gomez, who hails from the Mountain Province, was appointed by Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Alexander Yano as officer-in-charge of the Philippine Military Academy.

This, after Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig, PMA superintendent retired from the premier military institution last week ending four years and eleven months of stewardship.

During his valedictory address, Maliglig said eough decisions made during crucial times has helped the PMA earn the respect of the community despite the controversies that have hounded its alumni over the past several years.

"Getting rid of ‘during my time syndrome’ also contributed a lot to the improvements within the Academy," Maligalig said.

He added instituting changes in the PMA meant admitting flaws within the system, and it took courage to admit that the system had its major faults.

Maligalig said the Academy’s honor system was revisited when he took over as superintendent in 2004.

According to Maligalig, the institutional form of leadership in the PMA had to be revised and self-leadership was taught to cadets instead so that they become caring, responsible and dedicated military officers.

He said the PMA is a leadership school and change for the better is inevitable, adding that change must continue in the future.

He encouraged his successors to institute reforms to achieve the Academy’s roadmap of improving the curriculum and producing patriotic leaders of the nation.

Earlier, Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro said Maligalig’s successor would be a three-star rank or equivalent to the position of Lieutenant General in pursuit of the Academy’s Road Map 2015. -- Dexter A. See