The
Philippine Military Academy or PMA, is the
PhilippineThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
military schoolA military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps of the army, the navy, air force or coast guard, which normally provides education in a service environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned.Three...
for the
Armed Forces of the PhilippinesThe Armed Forces of the Philippines is composed of the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force...
(AFP). PMA was established on December 21, 1936 by the virtue of
CommonwealthThe Commonwealth of the Philippines was a designation of the Philippines from 1935 to 1946 when the country was a commonwealth of the United States. The Commonwealth was created by the Tydings-McDuffie Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1934. When Manuel L...
Act No. 1 (commonly known as the National Defense Act). PMA is located in Baguio,
BenguetBenguet is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is La Trinidad and borders, clockwise from the south, Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya....
province. It is the training school for future officers of the AFP.
Brief history
The Philippine Military Academy traces its history back to the Academia Militar which was established on October 25, 1898 at Malolos, Bulacan. The Academia was established by General Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the young Philippine republic and the school was meant as a training ground for future officers of the armed forces. It was forced to close down on January 20, 1899, however, as hostilities broke out between the Americans and Filipinos.
An Officer's School of the Philippine Constabulary was established on February 17, 1905 within the walls of Intramuros in Manila. This school was later to be relocated to Baguio on September 01, 1908. After the Philippine Legislature passed Act No. 3496 on September 8, 1926, the school was renamed the Philippine Constabulary Academy and courses were lengthened from nine months to three years.
When the National Defense Act was passed on December 21, 1936, the Philippine Constabulary Academy was renamed Philippine Military Academy and was permitted to grant its graduates Bachelor of Science degrees after completion of their four-year courses.
With the outbreak of World War II, training was disrupted at the PMA with Classes 1942 and 1943 being graduated prematurely and assigned to combat units in Bataan and other parts of the country. Many of these young officers perished in the war.
After the war, the Academy was reopened on May 05, 1947, at Camp Henry T. Allen in Baguio City. But due to its increasing need for wider grounds, it was soon moved to its present location at Fort Gen Gregorio H Del Pilar, Loakan, some ten kilometers from downtown Baguio. During the 1960s, since a need for more well-rounded individuals was found to be desirable, socio-humanistic courses were added to the school's curriculum.
1993 proved a momentous year for the PMA as its first female cadets were admitted and specialization based on branch-of-service was introduced into the curriculum.
See also