From humble roots, PMA’s top cadet sets record-high academic average

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BAGUIO, Philippines – Before he ever donned a cadet’s uniform, Jessie Ticar Jr. was a broke student at a public university, the son of a ballpen vendor and a stroke-stricken taxi driver from Quezon City. He had no military ties, just the weight of duty and a will to lift his family.

What he lacked in background, he made up for in resolve.

Four years on, Ticar, now a cadet first class, stands at the top of the Philippine Military Academy’s Class of 2025. At 23, he will graduate summa cum laude this month, only the fourth in the institution’s history to do so.

Ticar holds the highest general weighted average ever recorded by a PMA cadet. And when he steps into the officer corps, he will carry with him nearly every major citation the academy offers: the Presidential Saber, the Jusmag Saber, the Tactics Group Award, the Natural Sciences Plaque, the Army Professional Courses Plaque – each one a marker of excellence earned, not inherited.

“I had zero knowledge of the military. I chose PMA due to financial constraints. I felt I needed to help my family,” he said, recalling how a classmate at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines urged him to take the PMA exam.

Ticar represents what PMA Superintendent Vice Admiral Caesar Bernard Valencia calls “a very resilient class.”

His mother still sells ballpens and envelopes outside the Quezon City Hall, even as her son prepares to march as the academy’s valedictorian on May 17.

Previous summa cum laude graduates include retired police brigadier general Manuel Gaerlan in 1985), 2nd Lieutenant Janrey Cabanero Argus in 2021, and Colonel Leah Lorenzo-Santiago in 1997, the latter being among the first women to graduate from PMA, though not a class valedictorian.

The PMA “Siklab-Laya” Class of 2025, composed of 266 cadets – 212 men and 54 women – is graduating not just with medals and plaques but with powerful stories of sacrifice, determination, and endurance.

Other awardees

Ranking second to Ticar is Cadet Murthan Zabala from Cebu City, who will receive the vice presidential saber. PMA officials said Vice President Sara Duterte has been invited to attend the graduation, though she has yet to confirm.

Completing the top three is Cadet Joana Marie Viray from Pasay City, the highest-ranking woman in the class.

A senior high school graduate and daughter of a retired soldier and a teacher, Viray will join the Philippine Navy. She will graduate cum laude. She is also a recipient of the Australian Defense Best Overall Performance Award, the Philippine Navy Saber, and the Secretary of National Defense Saber.

There are others who excelled such as Cadet Zaira Grezelle Lamparero who was awarded the Superintendent Saber. She is the daughter of a retired police officer and a jail officer from Iloilo.

Another is Cadet Kint Pinas, a proud Kankanaey and son of a jeepney driver in La Trinidad, Benguet, who will graduate cum laude.

Cadet Tracy Miranda, from Baguio City, bagged the Athletic Saber, making his Ibaloi-Ilocano family beam with pride.

From Iligan, Cadet Bin Ladin Mindalano, a Maranao, received the SPDU Plaque, while Cadet Roland Patalinghug of Agusan del Norte scored a perfect 10.0 in advanced Algebra – an unprecedented feat in PMA history.

Diversity

Only two of its 266 graduating cadets came in with college degrees. The vast majority, or 143 of the cadets, entered the academy straight from undergraduate programs, while 121 were fresh from senior high school.

The demographic spread tells a deeper story: the biggest contingent came from Calabarzon with 36 cadets, followed closely by the Bicol and Ilocos regions. The Cordillera Administrative Region – small in population but steeped in military tradition – produced 21 graduates, continuing its outsized contribution to the officer corps.

But numbers alone don’t capture the full picture. The class reflects the country in all its diversity. Cadets spoke in tongues from across the archipelago – Bisaya, Tagalog, Ilocano, Kankanaey, Surigaonon, Cebuano, Maranao. They worshipped in ways just as varied – Catholic, Muslim, Born Again, Anglican, Evangelical, and Members Church of God International – sharing barracks, boots, and belief in something larger than themselves.

A class of many firsts

They made history. They were the first class to bring back the storied Reception Day after the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered traditions.

They were also the first to train jointly on the contested shores of Pag-asa Island, the first to sit across the table in a global peace and security forum in Sicily, the first to compete at the prestigious Sandhurst Military Skills competition at West Point, and the first to hoist the Philippine flag in the International Sailing Regatta.

No politics, just protocol

Vice Admiral Valencia said the May 17 graduation was scheduled “a year before” and not to dodge political controversies around the May 12 midterm elections.

The PMA graduation week culminates on May 17 with the Cadet Corps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (CCAFP) graduation parade and commencement exercises.

Ahead lies a shift to output-based education and the implementation of a PMA growth plan, part of efforts to modernize the country’s premier military institution.

But for the Class of 2025, the most powerful lessons came not just from books or battle drills, but from hardship, grit, and sacrifice. They entered as hopefuls. They will leave as officers. – Rappler.com

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