Gallery
- Notable people
This is a partial list of notable Philippine Military Academy alumni.
Several Philippine Military Academy classes have achieved notability, either due to highly decorated class members, significant changes in the PMA curriculum, or due to a high proportion of officers elevated to the highest ranks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the Philippine National Police. [31] [32]
These include:
"Magiting" Class of 1970 - the first class with a recorded formal name; included Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane, former Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Roy Cimatu. [32]
"Matatag" Class of 1971 - best known for being the core group of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM); [33] included Senators Gregorio Honasan [32] and Panfilo Lacson; [34] also included former Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who was later implicated in a military fund scandal. [32]
"Dimalupig" Class of 1981 - well known as having many "mistahs" appointed to high ranks during the term of President Benigno Aquino III, including four who achieved four-star rank: AFP chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr; PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima; AFP chief General Emmanuel Bautista; and Thai officer Thawip Poonsiri Netniyom, who was valedictorian and became General of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. [33]
"Sinagtala" Class of 1986 - known for being the first class to graduate from the PMA after the restoration of Philippine democracy in 1986, and the first batch of new military officers to serve the administration of President Corazon Aquino; [35] also known for having many "mistahs" appointed to high ranks during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, including most of the heads of the PNP: Ronald dela Rosa, Oscar Albayalde, Francisco Gamboa, and Camilo Cascolan. [35]
"Maalab" Class of 1993 - known for being the class of ensign Philip Pestaño, who died from a gunshot wound under disputed circumstances; [36] was also the last PMA class to graduate before the inclusion of women, later in the same year. [37]
"Kalasag-lahi" Class of 1997 - known for being the class that saw the graduation of PMA's first batch of women graduates [37]
"Marilag" Class of 1995 - known for being the class of many of the Magdalo Group during the Oakwood mutiny, [38] including Antonio Trillanes but also Makati Police Chief PSSupt. Rogelio Simon, who served Trillanes' warrant of arrest in 2018. [39] It is notable academically as the class who were first to undergo the new tri-service curriculum of PMA, effectively becoming PMA's first batch of service specialists upon graduation. [40]
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy. The President of the Philippines is the Commander-in-Chief of the AFP and forms military policy with the Department of National Defense, an executive department acting as the principal organ by which military policy is carried out, while the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines serves as the overall commander and the highest-ranking officer in the AFP.
Gregorio "Gringo" Ballesteros Honasan II, is a Filipino politician and a cashiered Philippine Army officer who led unsuccessful coups d'état against President Corazon Aquino. He played a key role in the 1986 EDSA Revolution that toppled President Ferdinand Marcos, and participated in the EDSA III rallies in 2001 that preceded the May 1 riots near Malacañang Palace.
On July 27, 2003, the Oakwood mutiny was staged by a group of about 300 armed defectors from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by Army Capt. Gerardo Gambala and Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV against the Arroyo administration. The group forcibly seized and occupied Oakwood Premier in Glorietta, Makati for almost 20 hours. They expressed grievances against the government's supervision of the military, and demanded the resignation of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, PNP Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, and AFP Chief of Intelligence Service Victor Corpus; They also aired their grievances against the military establishment and anomalies on the AFP. The mutiny was covered heavily by the local press, who dubbed the group as "Magdalo" in reference to their insignia, which alludes to the Magdalo faction during the Philippine Revolution, despite the group officially calling themselves "Bagong Katipuneros". The mutiny ended after the government successfully negotiated with the group. Several prominent participants of the mutiny, including Trillanes and Gambala, were later charged.
Antonio Fuentes Trillanes IV is a retired Philippine naval officer who also served as a senator of the Philippines from 2007 to 2019. He is known for his involvement in the Oakwood mutiny of 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege in 2007 in protest against the Arroyo administration, and as a vocal critic of the Duterte administration.
Angelo Tomas Reyes also known as General Reyes, was a Filipino retired general and politician who served as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff from 2000 to 2001 under President Joseph Estrada. At the height of the 2001 EDSA Revolution, Reyes withdrew his support for Estrada, which led to the installation of Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as president, under whom he then served as Cabinet Secretary until 2010. He also served under Arroyo as Secretary of the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Environment and Natural Resources, Energy, and National Defense.
The Manila Peninsula siege occurred on November 29, 2007, at The Peninsula Manila hotel in Makati, Philippines. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Brigadier General Danilo Lim, and 25 other Magdalo Group officers walked out of their trial for the 2003 Oakwood mutiny coup attempt and marched through the streets of Makati. The mutineers called for the ousting of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and seized the Rizal function room on the second floor of the Manila Peninsula Hotel along Ayala Avenue. Former Vice-president Teofisto Guingona, Jr. as well as some of the soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines joined the march to the hotel.
Cardozo Manalo Luna is a retired three-star general and the 35th Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Cardozo Luna also served as the commander of two unified commands, Eastern Mindanao Command and Central Command. He served as the Philippine Ambassador to The Hague, Netherlands from 2009 until 2010 He is the current Undersecretary of Department of National Defense.
Danilo "Danny" Delapuz Lim was a Filipino soldier who served as Chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority from 2017 until his death in 2021. He was incarcerated at Camp Crame in Quezon City from 2006 to 2010 for rebellion charges and an attempted coup d'état. After more than 4 years in prison, Lim was granted temporary freedom by the Armed Forces of the Philippines on May 31, 2010.
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (CSAFP) is the highest-ranking military officer and the head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including all service branches under its command. The position is usually held by a four-star rank of General or Admiral. Its direct equivalent in the US Armed Forces is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Unlike its US counterpart, which is merely supervisory, the Chief of Staff has complete operational control within the military hierarchy and is responsible for the overall operations of the AFP.
The Reform the Armed Forces Movement, also referred to by the acronym RAM, was a cabal of officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) known for several attempts to seize power in the Philippines during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, some of these officers launched a failed coup d'état against Ferdinand Marcos, prompting a large number of civilians to attempt to prevent Marcos from wiping the RAM rebels out. This eventually snowballed into the 1986 People Power revolution which ended the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and forced him into exile. RAM later attempted six coups d'état against the administration of Corazon Aquino.
Victor Batac was the former Director of the Directorate for Logistics of the Philippine National Police.
Emmanuel Trinidad Bautista is a Filipino general who served as the 44th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as he succeeded Gen. Jessie Dellosa as AFP Chief. He served as the Executive Director of the Cabinet Cluster on Security, Justice, and Peace at the Office of the President, Malacañang. His appointment as Undersecretary at the Office of the President was from 1 September 2014 to 22 June 2020 shortly after retirement from the military service as Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines. Concurrently, he headed the National Task Force on the Whole of Nation Initiative and was also the executive Director of the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea. He was succeeded by Gregorio Pio Catapang as AFP chief.
Hernando Delfin Carmelo Arreza Iriberri is a retired Filipino soldier, and was Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from July 2015 to April 2016. He had previously been the 56th Commanding General of the Philippine Army since February 7, 2014.
Eduardo Manahan Año is a Filipino public official and retired general of the Philippine Army who currently serves as the National Security Adviser under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos since 2023. He previously served as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte from 2018 to 2022, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 2016 to 2017, and the Commanding General of the Philippine Army from 2015 to 2016. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, Año, along with the rest of the Philippine government's Cabinet Secretaries, became part of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a task force formed to advise the President on the strategies which would effectively manage the spread of COVID-19 in the country.
Carlito Guancing Galvez Jr. is a retired Philippine Army general serving as the Senior Undersecretary and briefly as officer-in-charge of the Department of National Defense since 2023 and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process since 2018. He also served as the Chief Implementer of the Philippines' Declared National Policy Against COVID-19. In November 2020, he was appointed as the country's COVID-19 vaccine czar, and was responsible for leading the government's efforts in bringing into the country about 245.23 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of May 2022 beginning in 2021 despite the global vaccine shortage. Prior to this, he also previously served as the 50th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from April to December 2018.
Victor Navarro Corpus was a Filipino military officer and public official best known for his 1970 defection from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to the New People's Army of the Communist Party of the Philippines during the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos, for his defection from the NPA in 1976, his return to the AFP after the 1986 People Power Revolution, and his later role as chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
Rolando Joselito Delizo Bautista is a retired Filipino lieutenant general who served as the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development under the Duterte administration from 2018 to 2022. He held various positions in the military, such as the former Commanding General of the Philippine Army, commander of the Joint Task Force Marawi during the Battle of Marawi, and the Presidential Security Group.
The Sinagtala Class of 1986(English: light from above, lit. Starlight) was the first to graduate from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) after the 1986 People Power revolution, and the first batch of new military officers to serve the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.
Jose Calingasan Faustino Jr. is a retired Philippine Army general who previously served as Senior Undersecretary and officer-in-charge of the Department of National Defense.
Andres Castor Centino is a retired Philippine Army general who currently serves as Presidential Assistant on Maritime Affairs to President Bongbong Marcos since September 2023.