Caviteña is 3rd female PMA class topnotcher

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – Another woman topped the 2007 class of the male-dominated Philippine Military Academy and she will take center stage on graduation day on Monday, the academy’s superintendent said Wednesday. Maj. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig said Andreless Samson Mojica will be the third woman to duplicate the feat of now Navy Ensign Arlene de la Cruz who made history in 1999 by graduating as valedictorian. Maligalig said Mojica will soon have the rank of Navy ensign. In 1999, De la Cruz, a former University of the Philippines-Baguio math major from Camiling town in Tarlac, stunned the nation when she topped her class. She was the first female to achieve such a feat. Again in 2003, Marikina lass Tara Velasco, now a second lieutenant, topped the graduating class. The other top 10 graduates are: 2. Cadet Jonelle Diego Beltran, cum laude, 23 , of the Airmen’s Village in Sta. Maria, Zamboanga City. Beltran will receive the Vice Presidential Saber and the Philippine Air Force Saber for being the Number One cadet joining the Philippine Air Force. Beltran will also be receiving three other major awards – the Academic Group Award for being No.1 in all courses offered by the Academic Group; the Management Plaque for being the No.1 cadet in all courses offered by the Department of Management; plus the JUSMAG Award. 3. Cadet Arnold Santos Enriquez, cum laude, 22, of San Roque, Zamboanga City. For being No. 3 in the Military Precedence List, Enriquez will receive the Secretary of National Defense (SND) Saber. Enriquez will also be receiving five other awards: Social Sciences Plaque; the Computing & Information Sciences Plaque; Navy Professional Courses Plaque; and the Agfo Award for being No.1 in all Military Sciences Courses. Enriquez is also one of three graduating cadets who will receive the Australian Defense Best Over-all Performance Award. 4. Cadet Emil Gaspar Leyba, cum laude, 21, of Acop, Tublay, Benguet. For being the top graduate joining the Philippine Army, Leyba will receive the Philippine Army Saber and the Army Professional Courses Plaque, plus the JUSMAG Award. 5. Gemilyn Ardo Mendoza, 23, of San Quintin town in Pangasinan, will receive the Australian Defense Best over-all Performance Award. 6. Cadet Judyline Badana Canoneo, 26, of Talisay City, Cebu 7. Cadet Cyrus Angelo Alon Castillo, cum laude, 23 years old, of Muntinlupa City, who will also receive the Australian Defense Best Over-all Performance Award. 8. Cadet James Lowell Pypongco Andaya, magna cum laude, 24, of Dumaguete City 9. Cadet Reuben Sancho Bolivar Zate, cum laude, 22 years old, of Nabua, Camarines Sur. 10. Cadet Lemuel Rae Ancheta Antonio II, cum laude, 22, of Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Maligalig said 11 percent of the more than 1,000-member Cadet Corps of the PMA are female cadets and that women graduates are also doing so well in the field. Based on a study made on women, assistant PMA superintendent Brigadier General Nicomedes Corpuz said that more females are getting into the top management levels. There had been 148 female graduates of the PMA since 1997. All are doing well, Maligalig said. There are 23 female cadets (10 percent) graduating on Monday before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the second woman president of the Philippines. In 1994, the tradition of male dominance was shattered at the PMA by virtue of Republic Act 7192, the Equal Opportunity Act. The challenge Born in Indang town, Cavite, the 23-year-old Mojica neither dream of becoming a soldier at all nor besting all her 282 classmates at the "Maragtas" Class of 2007. "I only dreamt of having an education," Mojica said. "Maragtas" means "Marangal na Tagapagligtas (defenders)." Mojica, the youngest of seven siblings, said she first dreamt of venturing into business. She enrolled at the Cavite State University and was already a sophomore when she tried taking the PMA entrance examinations. Failing for the first time, she took it as a challenge, applied again for the exam and finished all the requirements. On April 1, 2002, her determination paid off as she found herself marching with hundreds of her "mistahs" (classmates) at the Borromeo Field during the summer incorporation of new plebes. "I only tried my very best," Mojica said. I challenge all women in the world to do the same, she said. "I hope of bringing pride to women," she said. Mojica will receive from Mrs Arroyo the Presidential Saber and the PGMA Achievement Award. She will also receive on Monday's graduation rites the Philippine Navy Sword and the JUSMAG award Women's world Mendoza, like class topnotcher Mojica who also was a "turnback" (repeater of entrance examinations), said she enjoyed her four-year cadet life at the PMA. “I was inspired by my cousin who was also a PMAyer," she said. "I only thought of entering PMA to become better person, now I am one of the best." She, too, is "proud of bringing honor to women of the world" with her feat. Cañoneo, who also like Mojica did not at all expect to be in the top 10 of their class, vowed to give “the best of her always." She admitted she felt bad when she failed in her first try at the PMA. But she tried again and made it to the top. Growing up with a single parent household, the sixth placer said she was discouraged by her mother to become a soldier because she is a girl. "Magiging military ako, Ma (I will become a soldier, mother)," she said. When she took the entrance examinations with her all-male friends, she was the only one who passed. "I only thought I will be a savior of my mom," said Cañoneo. Now she is getting to be the savior of her country as her class name means Marangal na Tagapagligtas. Maligalig said they are proud of these women and men graduating class while assuring that PMA continues to produce the best government scholars. - GMANews.TV