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BY PRINCE GOLEZ
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Monday, March 19, 2018
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MANILA – This year’s valedictorian of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), a son of a farmer from Barangay Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo, received a house and lot during his graduation at Fort del Pilar in Baguio City.
President Rodrigo Duterte handed over to Cadet 1st Class Jaywardene Galilea Hontoria, 25, a certificate of ownership yesterday – the first time in PMA’s history that its top graduate received a house and lot.
The house and lot, located in Iloilo, were from a giant residential subdivision developer.
Hontoria, already a registered nurse when he entered the country’s premier military school, also received from Duterte the Presidential Saber and Chief of Staff Saber from Armed Forces chief of staff General Rey Leonardo Guerrero.
In his valedictory speech, Hontoria reminded his 282-strong PMA Alab-Tala (Alagad ng Lahing Binigkis ng Tapang at Lakas) Class 2018 and the country’s youth: “Tayo pa ring lahat ang pag-asa ng ating bayan. Each one of us has a role to perform for our country. Sana gawin natin ito ng maayos para sa bayan.”
Hontoria revealed a life-changing moment as a poor, young boy in a farming municipality.
One day he asked this father to teach him how to plow the field. His father, however, gave him “a very striking statement” that would change his life.
“Tatay told me, ‘Toto, mas mag-an magbitbit sang ballpen kaysa magkapot arado. Magtuon gid ikaw mayad’ (My father told me, ‘Son, it is easier to carry a pen than to plow the field. You should study hard instead),” said Hontoria.
Hontoria went on to graduate as class valedictorian at Balabag Elementary School (2005) in Pavia, Iloilo and Colegio de San Jose in Iloilo City where he took his secondary education (2009). He took up Nursing at West Visayas State University then passed the licensure examination after graduation in 2014.
But he still felt “as if something was lacking.”
“Then one day the opportunity of taking the PMA entrance exam came knocking on my door. The next thing I knew, I passed the exam,” said Hontoria.
His father Oscar, 53, told Panay News it was really his son’s dream to become a soldier.
Hontoria’s graduation at PMA yesterday was a fulfillment of that dream. As the top graduate of this class, he was also bestowed with the following: Philippine Navy Saber, Academic Group Award, Australian Defense Best Overall Performance Award, Spanish Armed Forces Award, Humanities Plaque, Natural Sciences Plaque, Social Sciences Plaque, Jusmag Award, and Department of Leadership Award.
“I knew my son would do well in the PMA. He would tell us during school breaks when they would be permitted to go home that he was often in the dean’s list or that he topped this or that training or exam,” said Oscar.
Hontoria said his class’ PMA experience was “never easy.”
They were “pushed beyond our physical and mental limits.”
“To the Filipino people, maraming salamat po sa inyong patitiwala at pagsuporta. Nangangako po kaming gagawin po namin ng maayos ang aming mga tungkulin sa abot po ng aming makakaya,” said Hontoria./PN
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