PMA Homecoming pushes through with 'lower' alumni turnout

BAGUIO CITY —Customarily, "all roads lead to Baguio City" every February for the graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to attend their awaited homecoming.

This year, however, the PMA management has decided to limit the crowd as part of preventive measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

After being moved to a later date, the PMA Alumni Homecoming finally pushed through on Saturday, February 22.

PMA spokesperson Captain Cherryl Tindog told reporters that in the last decade, this was the first time that the alumni homecoming was closed to the public.

“Ito pong pagsasara ng ating alumni homecoming sa general public is just part of our precautionary measures po to limit the number of the crowd coming in... alam naman po natin ‘yung ating struggle with the coronavirus,” Tindog said.

Tindog admitted that for this year, the turnout of visitors was not that big compared to previous years. She even mentioned that streets leading to the military school were not that busy.

On a few tarpaulin streamers and banners from PMA classes could be seen hanging along the roads leading to the homecoming venue.

“This year nakita po natin na medyo hindi po mataas ‘yung number po ng turnouts ng alimni na pumasok ngayon. Mapapansin po ninyo hindi tayo nagcacause ng traffic sa labas, which is actually kinda new,” Tindog said.

Tindog said those who were allowed to attend the event were the members of the alumni association and their immediate families, PMA personnel, and some individuals who were tasked to document the homecoming.

According to the PMA official, parents were also prohibited from visiting the cadets for the day.

Tindog even described this year’s alumni homecoming as a “very simple” event as the PMA leadership decided to lessen the activities.

According to Tindog, some classes also decided to have an “advanced” celebration of the homecoming.

“Marami po ngayong mga classes na ahead of time nagcelebrate na po ng homecoming nila since last week... ‘Yung atin din po sa Golden Jubilarians, the class 1970, last week nagawarding na rin po tayo sa kanila,” Tindog said.

Meanwhile, Tindog said the lifting of PMA’s temporary lockdown would depend on the assessment of the local government of Baguio City. —LBG, GMA News