‘PMA, No place for wackos’

October 21, 2019 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY (October 18, 2019) — Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadets need psychosocial interventions to ensure their mental soundness, newly-installed Commandant of Cadets Brig. General Romeo Brawner Jr. believes at the heels of the hazing stigma that crept the premier military training institution in the country.
A team of psychologists offered their help in providing psychosocial assessments to the cadets, Brawner Jr., who has vowed a “war against hazing” in the Academy after the death of 4th class cadet Darwin Dormitorio.
After the assessments, Brawner Jr. said, the psychologists will give some recommendations and suggestions to help the cadets in monitoring their behavior. The 4th class cadets need to undergo psychotherapy to arrest their traumatic experience after Dormitorio, the new commandant of cadet said. ”The incident had a psychological effect on them.”
He also said that the upper class cadets especially the 1st class will have to undergo therapy such as anger management. A first class cadet, a 2nd class and five third classmen were charged before the Baguio Prosecutor’s office for violating anti-hazing law, anti-torture law and murder.
Brawner Jr. said PMA needs psychiatrists or experts on mental health. PMA is also geared to conduct “group norming” where cadets will be able to weed out bad practices such as hazing. From that, he said, good practices and proper attitudes will be re-introduced.
Brawner Jr. admitted, in order to introduce change, there should be an admittance that there is really a problem in PMA. He said hazing is present (in the Academy) that should be eradicated. Some of the changes being employed in PMA now are the inclusion of a Cadet Learning Development System (CLDS) where they will be taught how to be a good cadet starting from followership, to small unit leadership and organizational leadership.
 
Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN