Legal Writing_Francisco_The PMA and the Honor Code

7/24/2019 Legal Writing_Francisco_The PMA and the Honor Code

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/legal-writingfranciscothe-pma-and-the-honor-code 1/3

The Philippine Military Academy, the Honor Code and theHonor System; Its Absoluteness, Injustices and Its Relevance

utside the Academy Jose Mari Andrei P. Francisco

Every dependent of a soldier always dream to follow thefootsteps of their father and become one like them in the future, “ncea son of a soldier will always be a soldier!s son". # do have my ownshare of story with the Academy and their system. #n $%&%, # wasfortunate enou'h to pass, to'ether with ( other Palawenos the PMA)adet *uali+cation est. -e were reuired to report to AFP Medical)enter for the )omplete Physical est which includes Medical, /entaland 0europsychiatric E1am. /urin' the & week stay, we were able toe1perience how the cadet life inside the academy is. All you can hear

the whole day are “)adet March2 &2$23", “4our 5eft, your ri'ht,)adets )ount" and the unendin' rules 6 re'ulation and do!s 6 don!ts.-e are trained to follow orders and respect our upperclassman andfellow cadets.

he Philippine Military Academy is the premier military school inthe Philippines. #t is the o7cers! trainin' school of the Armed Forces inthe Philippines and has made 8a'uio )ity its home. he PMA boast of a lon' and illustrious history of preparin' only the best Filipino citi9enfor military service. PMA was transformed in to a ri:;ervice Academy,which introduced speciali9ed, branch of service speci+c courses in the

last two years of trainin', preparin' fresh 'raduates for their speci+cbranch of service, for the 'raduates to be +eld:ready, <eet:ready orsuadron:ready upon 'raduation.

“-e, the cadets, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate amon' usthose who do so." his is the honor code that the Philippine MilitaryAcademy cadets live by durin' their stay at Fort /el Pilar. “A )adetdoes not lie. =e always tells the truth re'ardless of the conseuences.=e does not uibble or make evasive statements. A cadet does notcheat. =e does not defraud others nor does he take undue advanta'eof them. -hatever credit he earns in any cadet activity is wholly his

own. A cadet does not steal. =e does not take the personal property of another without the latters consent. =e does not keep for himself anythin' that he +nds which does not belon' to him. A cadet does notdo any of these thin's and he does not tolerate any violations of the)ode. =e is bound to report any breach of the code that comes to hisattention. =e does not countenance by inaction any honor violation> if he were to, he becomes a party to such violation and he himself is as'uilty as the ori'inal violator. he =onor ;ystem transcends all ranksand class barriers. 0o cadet, re'ardless of his rank and class is abovethe ;ystem. 0o violator of the )ode is 'ranted immunity. 0o cadet whoviolates the )ode can redeem himself from the violation he commits." ruth is the virtue of the )orps. 8ut as in all 'eneralities there e1ists ane1ception, a certain individual will fail the trust reposed on him by thecode and herein lies the main task of the =onor )ommittee."

he =onor )ommittee is an or'ani9ed cadet body whose functionis purely investi'atory and does not have any authority to impose apunitive action a'ainst the errin' cadet. #t is composed of cadets, of



twenty +ve members, one representative from the +rst, second, thirdand fourth classes in each of the ei'ht companies. he +rst and secondclass representatives are the votin' members, while the thirdclass arethe recorders. #f an honor case is to be formali9ed, the =onor )ourt

composed of ei'ht votin' members and two recorders conduct aformal hearin'. A unanimous vote of ?@uilty? is needed to convict acadet of an honor violation. #f found 'uilty, the cadet is asked to resi'nfor the 'ood of the service. he proceedin's of an =onor )ommittee isa privile'e communication and known only to the committee and the;uperintendent .A formal investi'ation of the honor irre'ularity isundertaken and unanimous votes of its members determine whetherthe cadet is 'uilty or innocent of a violation of honor. )on+dentialreports of the case with accompanyin' recommendations are thenforwarded to the )ommandant of )adets for o7cial action.

he cadets are told that the =onor )ode is absolute. ;tealin' acentavo is the same as stealin' with millions. ;ome would be sodedicated to the code to report themselves for honor violations. #t isbetter to admit your mistake than wait for others to report you. 8utconsiderin' our present time, is it still applicable he ;ecretary of 0ational /efense Boltaire @a9min said that the system is ready forreforms because some aspects have to be studied since some are nolon'er appropriate. #t can also be remembered that we now have lawsthat were not there durin' our time, like #nternational =umanitarian5aw and the #nternational =uman Ci'hts 5aw. ;uch was not violatedanythin' because back then, there was no such laws. n the other

hand, PMA ;pokesperson MaDor 5ynette Flores said that the system isdynamic. #t adDusts to the reuirements of the present time.0onetheless, even thou'h the procedure and some aspects of thesystem will be chan'ed, if there are some thin's that would bechan'ed, the tenets of the =onor )ode, will not chan'e because that isthe basic.

here are maDor chan'es in our )onstitution that protects anddefends the freedom of an individual and should be applied to the bodywhich it breaths its life there from. he PMA should not only teachhonor to the cadets but also Dustice. he penalty to be imposed to the

violator such be euated to the crime or misdoin' he committed. #t isinDustice when you impose a harsh and cruel penalty on a smalloense. #f that would be our culture, people will impose heavypenalties on small oenses and it constitute unDust and unfair penaltyon small oenses. he modi+cation of the honor system doesn!t meanchan'in' the honor system drastically, it should allow developmentalalternative. here should be 'raduated penalty for violators likedemerits or tourin' for the +rst oense, suspension for a secondoense, and dismissal for a third. 8ut as like any idea there areoppositions, As PMA )lass &G =onor )ommittee )hairman =arlie5lave said “that it could have been worse if there is no honor code inthe system. #t serves as a deterrence to so somethin' wron'. A half lieis still a lie. A cadet found 'uilty has lost his moral ascendancy and isno lon'er eective within the cadet corps. 5et violations of re'ularsanctions be made in 'raduated manner but not honor violations.)haracter formation is a process. 4ou also want the cadets to reallybelieve in the system, not Dust fear it."



Applyin' the =onor )ode and the =onor ;ystem to our society,our laws are dynamic. #t has been made to protect the liberty of aperson and aid him in his everyday dealin's in his )ountry. 8ut like the=onor )ode and the =onor ;ystem, if you want the people to really

believe in the system, they must not only fear it but obey it.

Documents

Legal Writing_Francisco_The PMA and the Honor Code