Hazing Has Never Been Authorized in the Academy

Here is what my friend Ena posted on Facebook about the statements of PNP Chief General Oscar Albayalde and Senator Bato Dela Rosa that "hazings made them or molded them into the persons that they are now".  This, in view of the most recent death of Cadet Dormitorio at the Philippine Military Academy.

Ena's statement utterly destroys any justification for hazing in the military:

THERE IS NO PLACE FOR MALTREATMENT IN THE ACADEMY.  If it were essential to produce good soldiers/leaders, then it should've been authorized in the first place.  BUT IT IS NOT.  IT HAS NEVER BEEN."

Considering Ena's heritage, I believe she does not only make sense but she is also in a position to speak as an insider.  She belongs to a recorded military family that stretches from her Ibanag great great grandfather General Mateo Luga who fought under General Emilio Aguinaldo in the Philippine Revolution against Spain and in the Philippine-American War (read more in my 2010 post here) in Luzon and in the Visayas.  You can even see him featured at the PMA Museum.  

General Mateo Luga's son is a PMA alumnus, so are two of his grandsons, one of whom is Ena's father who now serves as a Pastor dedicated to helping cadets make ethical and moral choices as future officers at the PMA Christian Fellowship.  

I also had the privilege of working under her father, Pastor/retired Col. Erwin R. Luga whom I have grown to deeply admire because he is one of the many PMA alumni who has shown me leadership by example.  I even find myself in awe of these military men who are more gentle and considerate than me, contrary to the common impression that military men are brutish, "utak pulbura" as they call it, which, I believe, is not necessarily produced by, but strengthened in practices such as hazing.  

Hazing does not make men stronger and able to withstand harsh combat realities.  It metastasizes the cancer of our male egos and our innate thirst for blood and domination over others.

Finally, Ena did not only grow up as a PMA kid.  She has also brought with her her UP education as she teaches in this very same Academy. 

So yes, I believe in Ena's statement to the core.  Hazing has no room in Philippine schools, not even in the military or any other schools of uniformed service.

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"TIGILAN ANG KATANGAHANG ITO.

'Hazings' also caused the death of several cadets going as far back as a few decades before, irreparable damages to health and individual's dreams, and unfathomable grief to a number of families. The end will never justify the means. Defend what is RIGHT. Not JUSTIFY the malpractices just because you turned out 'all right'. THERE IS NO PLACE FOR MALTREATMENT IN THE ACADEMY. If it were essential to produce good soldiers/leaders, then it should've been authorized in the first place. BUT IT IS NOT. IT HAS NEVER BEEN."

Here's a screencap of Pastor/ret. Col. Erwin Luga's statement that he was also hazed but it did not mold him into the man that he is today:

PMA alumni should not justify hazing.  It only strengthens the distrust of civilians.  Hazing in the academy also ruins the reputation of officers who are not involved, as we have seen in this most recent death of Cadet Dormitorio.  In short, hazing ends the lives of cadets, cuts short the future of participants, tarnishes the image of the Academy and the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a whole -- thus, affecting our trust on the defenders of our Republic, and ruins the careers of innocent officers.