By: Lakan David Ariz, Lakan Ma. Isabel Santos, and Lakan Alma Garan Abacahin (Bugle Call, 2009)
Any prince would eagerly anticipate the day he would inherit his father’s kingdom and be crowned king. As king, he would be bestowed with limitless powers and dominion over his kingdom and beam with pride sitting on a throne in his castle.
This was the life they had envisioned when they first entered their castle within Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna. As plebes and members of the Bachelor of Science in Public Safety Class of 1995, they had endured grueling hardships, broken their backs, and dirtied their nails to please their seniors as they stepped on manicured grass fronting what is now known as the Police National Training Institute Grandstand.
However, some things are never meant to happen, although things at first might look as if they were on its way.
On April 13, 1994, the PNPA found its new and permanent home when it relocated to Camp General Mariano N. Castañeda in Silang, Cavite, only a few days after the graduation of SANDIGAN Class of 1994. The PATNUBAY Class of 1995 was then instructed to pack their belongings and move to Camp Castañeda. Some reacted with vulnerability, unable to conceal their inner struggles. The transfer felt like a nightmare, as they were being uprooted from a place they had grown accustomed to and considered home.
Their transfer to Silang, Cavite, was not as easy as they thought it would be. On their way to Silang, Cavite, they boarded a six-by-six truck loaded with their personal belongings, lockers, and study tables. The truck was not enough as they traversed the dusty, rough, and bumpy roads. They endured the long drive and endless bad roads. Aside from that, the travel was slow, almost like a procession. The driver had to be extra careful since the truck was overloaded with cadets and heavy lockers lest they fall flat on their faces in the vast fields of sugar cane in Canlubang, Laguna.
What a relief when they reached Camp Castañeda. A member of the Academy’s staff ushered them towards their assigned barracks. Night came, and most of them were very tired and wanted nothing more than to slump their dead-tired bodies on their beds. Their first night in their new home proved to be another task hard to accomplish. Blood-hungry mosquitoes indulged themselves in every part of their bodies. On the next day, after their morning mess, the Cadet-of-the-Day (COD) announced to prepare for polishing their Area Of Responsibility (AOR) as they all did well.
The Camp Vicente Lim had become the treasure chest of every cadet’s aspiration and emotion. Far more than the values they learned, it was where they met their never-ending physical challenges as underclassmen. They toiled hard to keep every nook and cranny of its space, grounds, and walls spick and span as required by our upperclassmen. Camp Vicente Lim’s barracks, classrooms, and grounds were supposed to be their “inheritance.” But the course of fate changed for the “Patnubay Class of 1995.” Their class was the last batch of cadets at Camp Vicente Lim. Toughness is what they projected and conditioned themselves to be.
Their first week of stay at Camp Castañeda chronicled activities highlighted by back-breaking chores such as cleaning and cutting the grass in preparation for the coming of Class 1996. They engaged in “damology,” weeding out grass, and got the flack instead of reward. “Damology” lasted from morning until late afternoon.
And so, the “Patnubay Class of 1995,” the last to be the ruling class at Camp Vicente Lim, had but a few days to reign as “Kings of the Barracks” in Camp Castañeda. Unfortunately, for the first week they were not treated as kings, but rather they were reduced to being “Slaves of the Barracks” until Class 1996 arrived a week later.
All things happen for a reason and for a purpose. There is a time for everything. Perhaps their transfer from Camp Vicente Lim to Camp Castañeda had a bigger purpose, a deeper reason most of them failed to comprehend at that time. Maybe because of pride and love for oneself, they temporarily forgot that wherever they are, the true kingdom was right where they are. Afterwards they all realized it was the principle of Justice, Integrity, and Service they stood for that mattered.
The memories of being cadets were but bits and pieces that made them officers, true kings in a place of his own choosing. The foundation it laid and the fundamentals it imparted are the groundwork of a creation you may call a masterpiece once a cadet finishes the cadetship.
It is just our appreciation of things and acceptance of our fate that would matter in the end. That would make a difference with who we really are. There are no kings and slaves in the Philippine National Police Academy, only gentlemen with a high respect for law and belief in good governance.
The Academy produced its first female graduate, PBGEN PORTIA BAÑAGA MANALAD, from the Patnubay Class of 1995. PBGEN MANALAD took an extra step and challenged the history of the Philippine National Police Academy with the increasing number of female cadets joining the Academy, challenging the men who dominated the hallowed grounds of the Academy. In 1995, the gnawing doubt on women’s capability as a man’s counterpart in nation building had begun to unravel. Far from being protected, she was subjected to the same training programmed for men, molding her physically and mentally compatible with them—the price of being experimental.
PBGEN PORTIA BAÑAGA MANALAD proved the nobility of our great mother heroes in her blood. Furthermore, she is the first female Lakan Police General.
The PATNUBAY Class of 1995 had 138 graduates and produced 54 star-rank officers across the tri-bureau, 45 of whom are still active in service, with 129 original members still living.
Source:
PNPAAAI Records
Philippine National Police Academy
