DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr has approved a “streamlined” curriculum for the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to prepare cadets to combat “unconventional and modern threats.”
PMA spokesman Lt. Jesse Nestor Saludo said the new curriculum, which he said was approved by Teodoro last week, will be implemented in the coming school year.
In a phone interview, Saludo said the PMA recommended the changes after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr mentioned stated during last year’s PMA graduation that “PMA graduates should be equipped with 21st century skills essential to combat unconventional and modern threats.”
“It’s ready for implementation for the incoming fourth-class cadets … The incoming first year (students) will have this new curriculum,” Saludo said.
Saludo said some “general education” subjects under the previous curriculum were merged with other subjects.
Saludo also said cadets used to be trained to be Army officers, if they want to enter the Army, and the same goes for those who want to join the Navy and the Air Force.
“This time, we made it joint. In other words, if they are already in the field, they know how the Army, Air Force, and Navy work together,” Saludo said.
Saludo said the changes are needed amid the military’s shift to territorial defense operations, from internal security operations.
“We have also seen new threats, new warfare dimensions. We have the cyber domain, electronic warfare domain, emergence of AI (artificial intelligence) and drone warfare,” he said.
