PMA cadet corps commander resigns after Dormitorio hazing death

BAGUIO —The brigade commander of the Philippine Military Academy  Cadet Corps has resigned weeks after the fatal hazing of a plebe.

Cadet 1st Class Ram Michael Navarro of the PMA “Masidlawin” class of 2020 resigned from his post as corps commander. 

His resignation came on the heels of  the death of Cadet 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio due to hazing on September 18.

PMA Commandant of Cadets Brigadier General Romeo Brawner told GMA News Navarro quit his post “following the resignation of PMA Superintendent Lieutenant General Ronnie Evangelista and PMA Commandant of Cadets  Brigadier General Bartolome Bacarro.”

Evangelista and Bacarro resigned on September  24, or six days after Dormitorio died, citing “command responsibility.”

Navarro’s “mistah,” Cadet 1st Class Marion Dale Cordova has been picked as the new PMA Cadet Corps brigade commander.

The brigade commander or corps commander is considered the “top cadet of the PMA,” chosen from among the top-performing members of the graduating class, said Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo.

Seven PMA upperclassmen had been charged with murder, hazing and torture over the death of Dormitorio.

Five cadets remain detained in the military stockade while 2 are in the “holding center” of the PMA, said Brawner.

The PMA leadership has vowed to turn them over to the police once the court issues warrants for their arrest. —NB, GMA News