A 23-year-old young man from Quezon City defied all odds to emerge as the valedictorian of the Philippine Military Academy’s (PMA) SIKLAB-LAYA Class of 2025.

Cadet First Class Jessie Jr. Ticar will graduate as a summa cum laude of the Class SIKLAB-LAYA (Sundalong Isinilang na Kasangga at Lakas ng Ating Bayan Para sa Kalayaan), making him one of only four PMA cadets who accomplished the feat in the 127-year history of the academy, and having the highest grade point average (GPA) at that. The other summa cum laude graduates at the PMA were recorded in 1985, 1997 and 2021. 

“I came from a not well-off family to the point that I needed to be the one to make a way for me to support my studies,” Ticar said during the presentation of the Top 10 performing cadets of PMA Class 2025 at Fort del Pilar in Baguio City on Wednesday, May 7.

Ticar is the youngest among three siblings. His mother sells ballpens and envelopes in Quezon City while his father, a former taxi driver, became a person with a disability (PWD) after suffering from an illness six years ago, which led to him losing his job.

“The most challenging part of my life before entering the academy is the financial constraint that my family [experienced],” he said, adding that lifting his family out of poverty is his primary motivation in joining the PMA.

But it was not an easy journey for Ticar inside the country’s premier military training institution as he needed to change his ways from an undergraduate student at the Polytechnic College of the Philippines (PUP) – Manila to a military cadet.

“Before entering the academy, I have no prior knowledge in [the] military. So the challenge that I faced upon entering [was] the transition in which I’ve changed my carefree civilian life into the military norm,” he said.

For being the class valedictorian, Ticar will receive nine awards: the Presidential Saber, JUSMAG Saber, Tactics Group Award, Natural Sciences Plaque, Army Professional Courses Plaque, Army Saber, Australian Defense Best Overall Performance Award, Gen. Antonio Luna Award, and Humanities Plaque.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is expected to personally hand him the Presidential Saber during the graduation rites on May 17.

Ticar hopes that his story will inspire other young people to persevere in life despite the hardships that they endure.

“Each cadet came from a different background of their families. I believe that the academy has its own holistic approach to developing the cadets in different aspects so that each graduate shall possess the character and the basic military skills for them to become competent and principled military officers in the future,” he said.

Top 10

Aside from Ticar, also presented were Top 2 to 10 cadets of PMA SIKLAB-LAYA Class and other performing cadets. The Top 10 is composed of four female and six male cadets.

The class salutatorian is Cadet 1CL Murthan P. Zabala from Cebu City while the third rank is Cadet 1CL Joana Marie D. Viray from Pasay City. Rounding up the Top 5 are Cadet 1CL Carlo A. Badiola from Camarines Sur, and Cadet 1CL Jetron Giorgio A. Nazareno from Oriental Mindoro.

Ranks six to 10 are as follows: Cadet 1CL Kobe Jo Ann Q. Pajaron from Negros Occidental, Cadet 1CL Malvin Brian N. Dapar from Bohol, Cadet 1CL Elzur D. Salon from Nueva Vizcaya, Cadet 1CL Aprilyn A. Magsigay from Agusan Del Sur, and CDT 1CL Kristine Kate C. Senados from Zamboanga Sibugay.

The PMA Class of 2025 consists of 266 cadets: 212 are male (80 percent) and 54 are female (20 percent. The graduating class produced four magna cum laude cadets and six cum laude cadets.

Of the graduating cadets, 127 will go to the Philippine Army, including the class valedictorian; 58 to the Philippine Air Force; and 71 to the Philippine Navy.

PMA Superintendent Vice Adm. Caesar Bernard N. Valencia said the PMA SIKLAB-LAYA is a “class of resilience and grit.”

Aside from Ticar who had to overcome poverty, the class salutatorian, Zabala, was not an original member of Class 2025. He came from Class of 2023 but he had to take a medical leave after sustaining an injury related to his training.

The class baron or brigade commander (highest ranking cadet / cadet captain), Cadet 1CL Roncher Bernabe, failed the PMA entrance exam twice before passing it on the third try.

Changes at PMA

Next year, Valencia said the PMA would introduce a “new and enhanced” curriculum focusing on technology proficiency and defense.

“We will be introducing new subjects such as cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, asymmetric warfare, and drone warfare. We will also be making sure that our curriculum will be in accordance with our strategic and operational readiness, and it will have an interdisciplinary approach to defense studies, but it's also aligned with our national defense strategies,” the PMA Superintendent bared.

The PMA has also begun exposing the cadets to the international arena. The Top 10 cadet, Cadet 1CL Senados, was awarded in Sicily, Italy for a research paper on the Philippines’ human security and economy as a middle-income state amid the Covid-19 pandemic. She was joined by three other cadets.

PMA cadets were also sent to the West Point Academy in the United States to participate in the Sanhurst Military Skills Competition for the first time. Filipino cadets were also sent to Italy and India to participate in international sailing regatta.

The PMA SIKLAB-LAYA is also the first class to conduct a joint field training exercise, which was held in Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea.

“But while we make enhancements to our curriculum, there is always this particular trait that all PMA graduates must have. We all make sure that all our graduates, this particular class, will still imbue the concept of the ‘warrior ethos’. They will be resilient. They will be strong mentally and psychologically, and this is what we always, we teach them about grit, and more importantly about resilience,” Valencia said.