Defense Sec grants Ex-Military Prof pleas to hold PMA Exam in Cotabato

By Gabriel Ortigoza

My dream is to include my province of North Cotabato in the official list of PMAEE.
In 2001, when I was still in the Corps of Professors of PMA, I gave PMA Entrance Examination at Southern Baptist College in Mlang, North Cotabato. It was the first PMAEE in the history of the province. 

Examinees for  cadetship at the Philippine Military Academy.

It so happened that year I was the OIC of a special PMAEE given in the cities of Davao, General Santos, Koronadal, and Cotabato. After I conducted PMAEE to four cities I went home in Mlang for a three-day R&R.
I didn't waste my time doing nothing on my rest days before I went back up to the mountains of Baguio. I decided to give PMAEE in my hometown of Mlang.
A day before the exam, I went to a radio station DXND in Kidapawan to announce I'm giving PMAEE at SBC. Thanks to my friend Grace Vergara-Tanghal for facilitating my public announcement and live interview at the station.
The following day, hundreds of youths in North Cotabato reported at the venue to take PMAEE as walk-in applicants. Several examinees passed that examination but only two made it to the academy and successfully graduated from PMA. One is my fellow from Mlang (last name is Tingson) and one is from Kidapawan (last name is Ancino). Both females and are still active officers of the Philippine Army. While they were still cadets at PMA their mothers from North Cotabato visited them in Baguio. I gladly welcomed them to stay in my quarters and served as their host inside Fort Del Pilar.
When I resigned from PMA in 2003 to join my wife in California I thought my dream of making North Cotabato into the official list of PMAEE Centers nationwide remains a dream.
A dream will remain a dream if you don't make it a goal. To reach a goal you must use SMART strategies to attain it. This acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and must be in a Time-frame.