Oban installs Peralta as new PMA chief

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City -- Newly appointed Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban presided Friday turnover rites here at the Philippine Military Academy installation of Brig. Gen. Nonato Peralta Jr. as new superintendent of the premier military school.

The event also honored outgoing PMA superintendent Vice Adm. Leonardo Calderon, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 56 that day.

Calderon, a member of PMA Class 1976, was the last member of his class to retire from the military service.

The change of command ceremony was held 9 a.m., attended by members of the PMA cadet corps as well as faculty and officials of the academy.

The ceremony included a military parade in honor of Calderon and an address by Oban, who visited the PMA for the first time as AFP chief of staff.

Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr., AFP public affairs chief, said Oban interacted with cadets at lunch.

“The chief of staff usually encourages cadets to practice the ideals and values of the academy when he has the chance to interact with them,” Burgos said.

He said Oban, who assumed as AFP chief last Monday March 7, stressed his commitment to improve the military’s financial and procurement systems.

Peralta belongs to PMA Class 1979 and was a classmate of Oban.

Prior to his designation as PMA superintendent, he served as AFP deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations.

It was during his watch as deputy chief for civil-military operations when the AFP human rights handbook and the security plan “Bayanihan” was launched.

Bayanihan, which took effect last Jan. 1 and will be in force until 2016, aims to end rebellion through development programs.

His appointment as PMA superintendent was a homecoming of sorts for Peralta, who served as the commandant of the academy’s cadets in 2008.

Peralta also served as commander of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade in Mindanao and the 50th Infantry Battalion in Cagayan Valley.

Peralta assumed as PMA superintendent amid allegations that some military officers who are graduates of the academy were engaged in corruption and abusive practices.

In an earlier interview, Peralta said he was not pressured by his new assignment and viewed it as an opportunity to correct some perceptions about the PMA.

“It is an honor to serve the Philippine Military Academy… I consider it an opportunity to correct certain impressions on the academy,” he said.