PNPA topnotcher to fellow graduates: Serve Filipinos sans restrictions, limitations

The topnotcher of the Philippine National Police Academy "Mandayug" Class of 2020 believes that the real meaning of service is to serve the countrymen without expecting anything in return.

In her valedictory address, Zamboanga native Fire Cadet Lei Anne Banico Palermo called on the more than 250 graduates to serve the country without restrictions and limitations.

"According to a plebe knowledge, service is 'to learn to live without fear, to go through such pain and suffering without complaining, to learn to appreciate the beauty of the common things around us, to serve the lowliest and the poorest without counting the cost or asking anything in return,'" Palermo said.

"That is service in its truest and rarest form. The ability to give and give without restrictions and limitations. This will be my challenge not only for my classmates but for everyone in here. Our society needs more of this," Palermo, who will be joining the Bureau of Fire Protection," she added.

Palermo stressed that it is now the time to pay back to the country, saying that as officers of the tri-bureau, "we are leaders but as public safety officers, we are servants to the Filipino people."

"In times of doubt and facing crossroads, it is always their welfare that we should think of above others. Nothing more and nothing less," Palermo said.

'Basta maka-graduate lang'

Graduating amid the threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic tests the true meaning of service among the graduates of the police academy, Palermo believes.

She said the health crisis has brought a "new normal ambience" for everybody. Despite the threat, she expressed elation that she and her classmates were able to survive it.

"Traditions and ceremonies even inside this academy underwent this new-normal revision. From the alumni homecoming to the graduation rites, everything was either cancelled or modified. Our mindset was 'basta maka-graduate lang,'" Palermo said.

Palermo believes that in this difficult period, everyone is reminded that the "simple things in life are the things that matter the most."

"Before, family, shelter, and food were simply overlooked. But now, we realize that these things are more important. More important than other grandeurs that life offered," Palermo said.

A private ceremony was held for the 252 PNPA cadets, composed of 178 males and 74 females. --KBK, GMA News