THE Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the country’s premiere military school, is due to introduce an enhanced curriculum that will include subjects on cyber warfare and drone warfare.
PMA superintendent Vice Adm. Caesar Bernard Valencia said the move was in response to the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr during the PMA graduation in May last year that the academy “should be able to train our cadets for 21st century for critical analysis.”
“We are also taking off from what the secretary of national defense said that our Armed Forces should be a multi-domain force, meaning not just focus on the traditional air, ground, and sea forces,” Valencia told a forum on Wednesday.
“So that’s what we did. We took a deep dive on what we think, what we need to improve on and the members of my staff did a terrific job, they consulted a lot of people,” he added.
He said the new curriculum will delve on subjects like cyber warfare, drone warfare, asymmetric warfare and artificial intelligence.
“Beginning next year, we will be introducing a new and enhanced curriculum where this particular curriculum will focus on the technology proficiency in defense,” said Valencia.
Valencia said the PMA will make sure that its curriculum will be in accordance with “our strategic and operational readiness.”
“And it will have interdisciplinary approach to defense studies (and) also aligned with our national defense strategies,” said Valencia.
“One of the highlights of this particular curriculum is we will now be delving with cyber warfare, we now be delving into artificial intelligence, drone warfare, and asymmetric warfare,” said Valencia.
He said the PMA is enhancing its academic program “to reflect the changing geopolitical environment.”
Last month, the members of the graduating PMA class went to Pag-asa Island “for them to assess and look into what their jobs would be in the future.”
The island, located some 260 nautical miles northwest of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, is one of the nine features occupied by Filipino troops in the contested West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea.
“From Pag-asa Island, they went back to (PMA in) Baguio (City), having a joint field training exercise … This is the first time that we’re having a joint field training exercise,” said Valencia.
“So why are we doing this? We are doing this to improve our academy. We are having a joint mindset, and all of these are related to the accomplishment of our Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept,” said Valencia.
GRADUATION RITES
Valencia also said Vice President Sara Duterte has been invited by the graduation ceremonies of PMA Siklab-Laya Class 2025 on May 17.
This year’s PMA class is composed of 266 cadets, led by class valedictorian Jessie Ticar Jr and salutatorian Murthan Zabala. The class is composed of 212 males and 54 females.
The PMA said 137 of the cadets, including Ticar, will join the Philippine Army. Seventy-one will be joining the Philippine Navy and 58 will be with the Philippine Air Force.
Valecia, asked if Duterte is attending, said, “I’m not sure, but we have invited her.”
“As part of tradition, we have to invite the vice president because she gives away this Vice Presidential Saber,” he said.
The Vice Presidential Saber is awarded to the class salutatorian.
If Duterte accepts the invitation, this will be the first time she and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who will be at the graduation rites, will see each other since their relations deteriorated.
Duterte resigned as education secretary in June last year. She assumed the post in July 2022, after she and Marcos teamed up to win the vice presidential and presidential race, respectively. In November last year, Duterte implied the Marcos administration is out to kill her. She also said she has talked to someone to kill the President, his wife Liza, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she dies.
Duterte later said her statement was “maliciously taken out of logical context.”
Duterte attended last year’s PMA graduation and assisted the president in handing over diplomas to the graduating cadets.
